Why High-Tech Urban Farms Won't Displace Community Gardens

Why High-Tech Urban Farms Won't Displace Community Gardens

Jody Allard/May 16, 2017

To serve neighborhoods, they need to work together.

High-tech innovations can help urban farmers grow anywhere. (Open Agriculture Initiative, MIT Media Lab)

Urban farmers are increasingly leveraging technologies like machine learning and smartphone integration to build high-yield farms in small urban spaces. And while it may seem that those innovations upend the “slow food” idea of working together in the dirt to grow organic zucchini or lettuce, sharing time and crops with neighbors, the success of these higher-tech projects may hinge on the support of local community gardeners.

In theory, a commitment to building a local food system that meets the needs of urban dwellers without relying on long-distance transportation methods—which can leave a substantial carbon footprint—is great. Many contemporary urban farms are cropping up in direct opposition to large-scale agricultural operations that are perceived as harmful to people and the environment. But in practice, urban farmers have struggled with limited real estate, high-priced infrastructure, and other challenges unique to the city environment. (Chicago’s green rooftop initiatives, for instance, were successful in revitalizing interest in urban farming, but even the 3.5 million square feet of urban farmland on 500-plus rooftops has failed to make a real dent in the city’s food demands.) Those are constraints that high-tech innovations aim to solve.

HIGH-TECH HELP FOR URBAN FARMERS

Housed on only one-eighth of an acre, Urban Produce in Irvine, California, harvests the volume of crops typical of a 16-acre facility. The indoor vertical farming operation specializes in growing organic microgreens, herbs, and leafy greens in a controlled environment. While Urban Produce has only one location today, they have big aspirations. "In five years, we hope to build 25 urban farms worldwide. Imagine cities, corporate campuses, master-planned communities, cruise ships, and military bases growing their own local, organic produce," says Urban Produce CEO Ed Horton. "In 20 years, I expect we’ll be growing organic produce on the International Space Station."

Space farming aside, high-yield urban farms that produce thousands of pounds of food are only one piece of the tech-enabled urban farming puzzle. Other initiatives are focusing on bringing families back into the fold with self-contained farms that are designed for use in small city apartments. Grove Garden combines an aquarium with a garden to create a closed-loop ecosystem: you feed the fish, their water is cycled to water the plants, and the plants grow to feed you. Grove Garden uses one-tenth of the water of traditional farming methods, and it's all remotely manageable by a smartphone app.

A beautiful indoor garden that grows fresh, organic herbs, fruits, and vegetables right in your home using the power of aquaponics. Reserve yours today at https://www.GroveGrown.com!

Still in the fundraising stage, Lyfbox is another permaculture garden option that can produce 40 different crops in a few feet of growing space. But Lyfbox goes one step further with an app that leads urban farmers from planting to cooking, reducing food waste by providing recipe suggestions when a crop is ready to harvest. The app even connects farmers with their community to help them buy or sell their crops from their smartphones.

The most productive urban farms have one thing in common: they rely on tightly controlled environments in order to maximize crops year-round, regardless of local growing conditions. In these environments, growing conditions are automated based on a combination of farming wisdom, trial-and-error, and growing models. But until recently, there was no such thing as an ideal "recipe" for growing conditions—making each smart farming environment only as good as the data it has available.

MIT's OpenAg initiative, in partnership with Sentient, hopes to change that. Using the power of 2 million computers located in 4,000 sites worldwide, researchers set out to discover whether advanced artificial intelligence could offer farmers insight into the optimal way to grow crops. Researchers began by testing basil in growing chambers called "Food Computers," which are similar to the type of closed-loop environments used by many urban farmers. Soon, the AI made a surprising discovery: basil grows best when exposed to continuous sunlight. By the end of the 18-week experiment, researchers had collected three million points of data, per plant, per growth cycle. This data is publicly available to anyone who wants to work with it, and in the future, researchers hope to program the AI to adapt its growing conditions based on what it learns throughout the growth cycle.

MIT’s food computer information is open data, so any farmer can build one. (Open Agriculture Initiative, MIT Media Lab)

"Farmers know a lot about the conditions in their own environment, but not even the best farmer knows how to grow the plants optimally when you can control all these environmental factors at will," says Risto Miikkulainen, vice president of research at Sentient. "We believe these recipes will help farmers grow the best crops, with the most yield, in the places that need [them] most. This would not only reduce the cost of exporting food across the world, but also reduce the amount of energy required to grow plants. We might even see food being grown directly in grocery stores."

If grocery stores doubling as farms sounds outlandish, consider how unlikely growing meat in a laboratory would've sounded a decade ago. The technology exists to make these goals a reality, but it will take more than technology to revolutionize urban farming. Their success relies on a community that's interested in and educated about sustainability, and is willing to invest in it—and that's where small community gardens can make a big impact.

COMMUNITY GARDENS HAVE DEEP ROOTS

With increasingly divergent technologies and resources, you might expect community gardeners to be at odds with the new generation of high-tech urban farmers. As urban farms continue to adopt new technologies to enhance their crop yields, space constraints could eventually pit the two against each other. Are community gardeners excited by the prospect or afraid they'll lose the community that made their gardens so successful?

In many cases, today's community gardens exist to solve a problem very different from the one they were aiming at in the 1890s, when Detroit and other cities looked to them to offer residents a place to raise a homegrown solution to an economic recession that left laborers unemployed and hungry. Now, many gardens are an antidote to isolation from nature and neighbors. While some gardeners enjoy the financial benefits of selling food, most community gardens aren't intended to feed their communities entirely. Unlike large-scale urban farming operations, their primary focus is on teaching sustainable farming principles and connecting with members of their communities.

Higher-tech innovations won’t necessarily compete with community gardens that are deeply rooted in their communities. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Karin La Greca is on the board of the Fresh Roots Farm, a two-acre nonprofit organic educational farm in Mahweh, New Jersey. While each volunteer receives some of the food the farm produces, she says it's the community, not the food, that attract volunteers to the farm. "Community gardens give a sense of place to the residents of the community," she says.

Sable Bender used to work for an organic farm that relied on draft horses to plow the fields. Now, she works for the largest greenhouse manufacturer in the country and does her own farming on a smaller scale, helping out at a local school garden. She sees larger urban farms and community gardens as essential to each other's existence. "As people learn about urban farms, it encourages them to get involved with a community garden and it creates a desire to know more and try growing something for themselves," she says. "On the other hand, you have people who have been involved with a community garden taking on larger urban agriculture projects."

La Greca agrees. Far from being afraid of the impacts of urban farms on her own small community garden, she welcomes the opportunity to teach sustainable farming principles to a larger audience. "Community gardens allow residents to connect with nature, something that has been lost along the way," she says. "As community gardens move forward both in municipalities and schools, I believe farmers will get the respect they deserve and the community will support the farmers and collaborate together to change our food system for a better future."

Artificial intelligence and smartphone-integrated farms might seem like strange bedfellows for a movement that prides itself on returning to a more "natural" state. Talking casually about machine learning and closed-loop ecosystems, these aren't your grandparents' farmers—and they may be exactly what's needed to make their vision of sustainable urban farming a reality.

PurePonics Is Planted In Geelong, Victoria

PurePonics Is Planted In Geelong, Victoria

Last Friday the PurePonics team planted the first crop in the brand new aquaponics facility in Geelong, Victoria.

A great milestone and now our sights are set on the first harvest in around 5 weeks time and getting the finest ingredients into the hands of our customers.

Thanks for following along with our progress and we look forward to providing plenty of interesting and exciting news around food production, urban farming and the beauty of aquaponics in protected cropping.

Follow us on Facebook - PurePonicsAUS

Nation's Largest Commercial Hydroponic Greenhouse To Open In Monroe County

15 Acre Hydronov Aquaponic Greenhouse Comes to Rochester, New York

Clearwater Organic Farms LLC will soon start construction of a 15 acre (6.07 hectare) commercial leafy greens production facility in Monroe County, New York. The plans were announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday. The project will make use of Hydronov's leafy greens deep water floating raft technology and is estimated to create 137 new jobs. 

The state-of-the-art greenhouse facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The production system is designed by Canadian manufacturer Hydronov. This company has developed similar commercial projects in China, Mexico, Canada, the U.S., Japan and France. Hydronov's system, that has a big focus on the use of automation, enables growers to operate a leafy greens production with 5 to 10 workers per hectare, depending on the type of crop and level of automation. 

The Hydronov system makes use of a high density system for leafy greens production. In close cooperation with suppliers like the Italian horticultural machinery company DaRos, the company has developed their own tray system that enables intensive automation from seeding, to transplanting, harvesting and packing. Most of the transportation in the system is done over water, instead of mechanical conveyors. 

At the new Clearwater Organic Farms facility, most of the jobs will be in packaging, shipping, receiving and warehousing. 55 of those jobs are reserved for veterans or those who are underemployed. In order to encourage Clearwater Organic Farms to build in the Finger Lakes region, Empire State Development has offered up to $4 million in Upstate Revitalization Initiative funding and $2 million in Excelsior jobs tax credits, which are tied to the commitment to create more than 135 new jobs. The total cost of the project is approximately $50 million.

"We are very pleased with the level of support that we’ve received from the State of New York, the County of Monroe and COMIDA to bring innovative and leading technology to the Finger Lakes Region", said Clearwater Organic Farms Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Theodor. "We’ll be providing pesticide free, fresh, locally grown and organic produce on a year round basis to the consumers in a 400 mile radius of the city of Rochester."

The new facility for Clearwater is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

2018 Farm Bill Is Enormous Opportunity For Urban Agriculture

2018 Farm Bill Is Enormous Opportunity For Urban Agriculture

 APRIL 19, 2017BRIAN FILIPOWICH 2

By Brian Filipowich, Director of Public Policy at The Aquaponics Association

About every five years the Federal Government passes a massive, far-reaching “Farm Bill” with the main aim of providing an adequate national supply of food and nutrition. The Bill affects all facets of the U.S. food system including nutrition assistance, crop subsidies, crop insurance, research, and conservation. The 2014 Farm Bill directed the spending of about $450 billion.

Unfortunately, in recent decades, the Farm Bill has become a boondoggle for “corporate mega-farms”; multi-billion dollar operations that control vast acreage. The Farm Bill has failed to provide commensurate assistance to urban farmers. In effect, our government is using our tax dollars to give an advantage to corporate mega-farms over our small urban farms. Sad.

For example, the Farm Bill is the main reason high-fructose corn syrup is so cheap and loaded into 70% of food in the grocery store. In his book, Food Fight: The Citizens Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill, Daniel Imhoff writes: “Fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains – the foods most recommended by the USDA dietary guidelines – are largely ignored by Farm Bill policies.”

The Farm Bill has provided us a large, reliable quantity of food, but a food system racked with economic consolidation, environmental damage, and poor health outcomes.

The Urban Agriculture community has a great opportunity to shape the 2018 Farm Bill for two big reasons: 1) we offer benefits that appeal to politicians across the political spectrum, and 2) the public is already with us on this issue, ahead of the politicians.

Urban Agriculture boasts the following benefits that politicians love to hear:

• Year-round controlled-environment jobs and local economic growth;
• More fresh food to improve our diets and lower healthcare costs;
• Less waste from food spoilage and food transport; and
• Better food security.

The American consumers’ spending habits show that they are ahead of the politicians on this issue: Consumer Reports found an average price premium of 47% on a sample of 100 USDA Organic products. If folks are willing to pay 47% more for organic, then they are also willing to call their representative’s office, attend a town hall meeting, and show up at the ballot box. The energy to make the change already exists, we just need to channel it.

We have already seen the first step to shifting the Farm Bill toward our direction: Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, recently introduced the Urban Agriculture Act of 2016. The goal for the Act is to be eventually included as its own Title of the 2018 Farm Bill.

Here are some provisions of the Act:

• expands USDA authority to support urban farm cooperatives;
• makes it easier for urban farms to apply for USDA farm programs;
• explores market opportunities and technologies for lowering energy and water use;
• expands USDA loan programs to cover urban farm activities;
• provides an affordable risk management tool for urban farms to protect against crop losses;
• creates a new urban agriculture office to provide technical assistance; and
• expands resources to research, test, and remediate contaminated urban soils.

In Washington, DC, change is sometimes painfully slow. Positive changes for Urban Agriculture are by no means a foregone conclusion, especially in our unpredictable political environment. Politicians need to see that this issue will move votes.

So let’s stress our message and get the word out now, the politicians are ready to listen. Urban Agriculture offers jobs; fresh food and better health; less waste; and better food security. The legislative soil is fertile my agricultural amigos, now it’s our job to plant the seeds of an urban-friendly Farm Bill!

One way to stay involved is to sign up for the Aquaponics Association’s 2018 Farm Bill Coalition. Or there are many other groups that will be getting involved, including a few listed below.

Here’s some related resources to learn more:

• National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Farm Bill Primer
• Haas Institute: The U.S. Farm Bill; Corporate Power and Structural Racialization in the United States
• Food Tank, the Think Tank for Food
• Association for Vertical Farming
• Congressional Research Service 2014 Farm Bill: Summary and Side-by-Side
• Congressional Research Service The Role of Local Food System in U.S. Farm Policy
• The Atlantic: Overhauling the Farm Bill; the Real Beneficiaries of Subsidies

Brian Filipowich
Director of Public Policy
The Aquaponics Association

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Upping The Ante For Urban Growing

Upping The Ante For Urban Growing

4 May 2017, by Gavin McEwan, Be the first to comment

Europe is starting to catch up with the Far East and the USA with the opening of a major indoor lettuce-growing facility in the Netherlands, Gavin McEwan reports.

Lettuce: plants at Staay Food Group’s new facility in the Netherlands will be grown hydroponically in coir underneath LEDs - image: HW

With the imminent opening in the Netherlands of Staay Food Group’s €8m, 27,000sq m high-rise indoor lettuce-growing plant, Europe finally appears to be following the Far East and the United States down the route of large-scale commercial urban growing.

Located at its Fresh-Care Convenience processing plant in Dronten, central Netherlands, the facility will initially produce around 300,000kg of lettuce, a mixture of Lollo Biondo, Lollo Rosso, Rucola and Frisée forms, rising eventually to more than a one-million kilograms, for processing into salads.

The plants will be grown hydroponically on eight or nine levels in coir plugs underneath LEDs. "At this moment, we still source our lettuce in southern Europe during part of the year. The disadvantages are that the climate is erratic and the transport distances are great," says the company.

"Once the vertical farm supplies the lettuce, it will be fresher, there won’t be any pesticides involved, the quality will be stable, we will be able to plan production better and we will contribute to Staay Group’s sustainability goals."

Production times will also be considerably shorter than in conventional growing, it adds. Last year, in partnership with Philips Lighting and breeder Rijk Zwaan, it tested the format at Philips’ High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, with "positive results".

While the UK has yet to see anything on this scale, the wide exposure of a handful of pioneer projects on television and in national newspapers has brought the format to wider public attention. But suppliers tend not to think in purely national terms, according to Stephen Fry, senior business development executive at Midlands hydroponics equipment supplier HydroGarden.

"We have had a significant increase in business for our urban growing solutions," he says. "Most weeks I am drawing up plans for new systems, which could be in Lebanon, Kenya, New Zealand or the Far East as well as mainland Europe. People are looking at producing food where it’s required. For the UK, what is the carbon footprint of driving produce up from Spain?"

Responding to trends

"It’s still very niche," Fry admits. "We aren’t going to save the planet from starvation on our own, but a 50% increase in world food production has to come from somewhere. What we are doing is responding to trends in food. You only have to go to a half-decent restaurant or even pub to see the emphasis on freshness."

The VydroFarm tiered indoor growing system developed by HydroGarden took the innovation prize in the Future Manufacturing Awards presented by EEF, formerly the Engineering Employers Federation, earlier this year. Now rebranded as V-Farm, the system currently leads the company’s push into world markets.

It is also launching a new flood-and-drain vertical system at international trade events this month, says Fry.

On a smaller scale it has also developed a compact format for coffee shops, small supermarkets and high-end restaurants to grow their own micro-leaves and other crops. Its own range of LEDs "are giving very good results — they have needed to have a different spectrum for micro-greens, which are popular in the Far East", Fry explains.

"We also do a lot of work on the nutritional element. With our new product lines we can affect the nutritional content of things like micro-greens. Kale is hailed as a superfood but, if you compare the vitamin and mineral content, these are super-duper foods."

HydroGarden has also installed a trial 12-rack growing room at its Coventry headquarters, while a specially commissioned hybrid version of V-Farm combined with a FishPlant aquaponics system is also due to open at Pershore College in Worcestershire later this month.

This will be used to educate post-16 and degree-level students on a variety of courses including horticulture and animal care about hydroponics and aquaponics as sustainable alternatives to traditional farming methods.

HydroGarden’s V-Farm unit combined with FishPlant aquaponics system

Water quality and health

The college’s project manager John King explains: "In the first instance, our animal-care students will carry out testing to monitor and manage the water quality and subsequent health of the fish and plants.

These readings will be shared with our horticulture students whose focus will be the produce, grown from seed in separate propagators before being transplanted into the hydroponics part.

"If the plants are less than healthy, the students will have a real-life scenario to determine what is going wrong and what factors need to be altered such as lighting, nutrient flow and temperature." Animal-care students will then feed the finished produce to rabbits and other small herbivores in the department.

"We also plan to invest in a larger vertical-farming unit in the future so any students who are particularly interested in hydroponics will be able to take their knowledge and learning to the next level by working on a larger scale," says King.

Fry adds: "We are working with Pershore on growing protocols. Having a system without protocols on how to use it is like giving a car to someone who can’t drive."

The understanding of plants’ response to LEDs in controlled growing environments has so far been driven in the UK by AHDB Horticulture-funded work at Stockbridge Technology Centre’s LED4Crops facility. But while this three-year programme finishes at the end of this month, there is still much more in this area that the North Yorkshire research station is keen to investigate.

The facility’s manager, photobiologist Dr Phillip Davis, says: "We have a lot of data on the effect of different light on crops. We can control everything from how tall the plant grows to when it flowers. We have looked a lot of different crops — lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and many ornamentals — mainly from the point of view of propagation, but for lettuce and leafy herbs through to harvest. For
a crop like basil you can control the intensity of the flavour, for example, whether you want it mild for salads or stronger for sauces."

This response is already being harnessed by salad and herb grower Vitacress, which has recently installed Heliospectra programmable LED grow lights at its West Sussex site to increase shelf life and chill tolerance of basil plants during the final growth stage.

"There isn’t a vast acreage of indoor farming in the UK yet, though there are rumblings of big things taking off," Davis notes.

"And in research we are really just touching the surface. The more we look at it in total, the more we discover is possible in things like flavour and shelf life."

Urban growing economics

While the LED4Crops facility continues with research including private commissions, Stockbridge Technology Centre is now taking on a new project to look specifically at the economics of urban growing, and hence the barriers to commercial uptake, as part of the Innovate UK-funded Centre for Crop Health & Protection.

"There are a lot of questions in people’s minds as to whether it makes economic sense," says Davis. "It’s certainly not a low bar to start with." The new facility will have three growing areas, each producing "large volumes" of a single crop "and will be flexible enough to allow us to test what’s out there.".

He continues: "LED lighting is coming down in price — though not as quickly as some had hoped. But they are getting more efficient so you need fewer and your payback is quicker." 

Viewpoint: Professor Tim Benton

"Urban agriculture, including vertical farming, is a potentially useful way to provide some high-value produce locally, and helps to connect people and food. However, it is unlikely it will underpin food security in the sense of access to a healthy diet as the amount of land necessary to provide nutritional needs is likely to be difficult to find within a purely urban setting.

"There is a clear role for it in some circumstances and for some markets, perhaps most obviously for things like lettuce, herbs and some fruit and veg. The degree to which it may emerge depends on a host of factors like access to food from other places, local access to land and water, infrastructure and so on.

"The space in most cities is very expensive relative to peri-urban and rural areas, so it might be more likely to emerge strongly in very large cities where ‘local fresh’ food might be highly valued, and where there is a market to support it, or in cities like Singapore, where access to land is absolutely difficult. Where land is cheap and available near cities, and it is easy for fresh produce to find its way into the centre, it may not play a huge role."

Indoor Farmers Face Uncertainty Over Organic Labeling

APR 24, 2017 @ 06:03 PM

Indoor Farmers Face Uncertainty Over Organic Labeling

Debra Borchardt ,  CONTRIBUTOR

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Indoor farms can stack plants vertically and grow more crops than a traditional outdoor farmer. (Photo by Shutterstock)

The National Organic Standards Board have kicked the can down the road on hydroponic and aquaponic farming. The group was supposed to decide on April 21 if the systems can be considered organic. The only decision they made was to learn more about the farming process and have pushed their decision until the fall.

This has left current hydroponic and aquaponic farmers that consider themselves organic in limbo. They can continue to call themselves organic until a decision is reached, but in the meantime the uncertainty is troubling.

“It's more about organic, certified farmers wanting to maintain their market share,” said JP Martin of GrowX, an aeroponic farming system. “The fertilizers are identical,” he said, “So the argument that they use different nutrients breaks down.”

Terra Tech is an indoor farming company that grows leafy greens and its crop that has some soil exposure has been certified organic. Chief Executive Officer Derek Peterson said, "If they came back and had some sort of ruling that disallowed organic, it would be tremendously hurtful. We would lose shelf space." He noted that the demand for non-organic produce continues to drop because the price premium is down for organic. "It's more affordable so the demand has increased," he said.

He's right. The market has grown tremendously. The USDA said that there was a 13% increase between the end of 2015 and 2016 of organic farms. This is the highest growth since 2008.

The point of contention is whether food grown without soil can be considered organic. The USDA admits that obtaining organic certification for crops is challenging and the guide is over 60 pages long. There is a lot of detail regarding the soil, but there isn't a hard and fast rule that the food must be grown in soil.

“It's really about where the nutrients are coming from and less about the methodology,” said Martin. He said it just boils down to money and market share because hydroponic farming has been around for years. If anything, the indoor farming is much more organic than outdoor farming according to Martin.

New Farming Method in Taft Says Goodbye to Dirt

New Farming Method in Taft Says Goodbye to Dirt

by Reyna Harvey, Eyewitness News

Sunday, April 16th, 2017

New farming method in Taft says goodbye to dirt. (KBAK/KBFX)

TAFT, Calif. (KBAK/KFBX) — A new and innovative way of growing food without using dirt has carved a niche here in Kern County.

The process is called Aquaponics, and it gives you the ability to grow thousands of plants in a small space.

Sheri Rightmer says she was able to ditch the gardening tools once she started Up Cycle Aquaponics.

"I love the fact that I don't have to weed anymore in the garden, I don't have to bend over, everything is pretty much at waste level," says Rightmer.

Since no soil is used and the roots are exposed, this gives the plants direct access to minerals.

Sheri says the process is innovative and efficient, "It uses 95 percent less water than regular agriculture, it grows three times faster, three times larger and nine times less space."

Housed in a temperature-controlled space so they grow year round with over one thousands plants, Sheri hopes this venue will inspire others to get a green thumb.

For more information you can visitupcycleaquaponics.com.

Beavercreek Veteran Looks To Change Farming Practices

Beavercreek Veteran Looks To Change Farming Practices

By Ethan Fitzgerald 

Published: April 13, 2017, 6:40 pm

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (WDTN) – The owner of Oasis Aqua Farm told 2 NEWS he’s trying to make farming more sustainable.

His unconventional farming method started when his mother-in-law wanted to get rid of some fish.

‘She said, hey! Do you guys want fish? And I said well..I work full-time on base, I’ve got two dogs and three kids,” said Kimball Osborne.

Turns out, they got the fish. What does a busy former veteran do with fish?

Kimball decided to try a method of farming he had long been interested in: Aquaponics.

Unlike most farms, the Osborne’s don’t use everyday fertilizer. Their 2,500 square foot facility relies on three key things: heat, dirt and 1,700 fish.

In short, the fish give nutrients to the plants and the plants clean the water for the fish.

“This is our fertilizer factory. We feed them, they feed our plants,” said Mr. Osborne.

The farm is fairly new and once they reach full operation, they expect to feed 100 people per week.

It’s Mr. Osborne’s childhood love of gardening that made him pursue Aquaponics.

“I’ve always done it. I’ve always had a garden. I’m also a cost analyst, I had millions of questions,” said Osborne.

After countless phone calls and classes, Osborne is ready and so is his community.

“Everyone has been extremely supportive. In fact one lady bought a share and said she has a garden, but just wanted to support us.”

If you would like to learn more about Oasis Aqua Farm, click here.

Indoor Growing Is ‘Bringing Back Failed Varieties’

Indoor Growing Is ‘Bringing Back Failed Varieties’

Urban farms are allowing Rijk Zwaan to grow varieties that fell short in past crop trials due to weak disease resistance

Indoor growing with LEDs is allowing salad breeders to bring back high-performing varieties that didn't have strong enough disease resistance in crop trials, a city farming expert has revealed.

Indoor growing at facilities such as GrowUp Urban Farms in London has allowed plant breeder Rijk Zwaan to reinstate certain salad varieties and boost product quality and consistency, said Philips’ programme manager for city farming, Roel Jansson.

“Growing in indoor climate cells means there are no pests, no weather changes, no bugs,” he said. “Everything that was developed by Rijk Zwaan in previous years but maybe didn’t have enough disease resistance can be used indoors because here we don’t have disease. We can get better taste, better colouration, faster growth.”

Philips has a programme with fellow Dutch company Rijk Zwaan to screen different varieties to find out which are best for indoor growing and which LED light spectrum they respond best to.

While he accepts that indoor growing will never fully replace traditional salad outdoors or in polytunnels, he sees big potential for vertical growing in fresh-cut pre-packed salads.

“Indoor growing is the future for growing processed produce like fresh-cut pre-packed salads because you can grow bug-free and with stable nitrates,” he said. “You can predict shelf life, texture, quality because you always get the same product.”

In wholehead lettuce, Janssen believes opportunities are more limited since consumers are already used to washing the product before eating it.

“In Europe we could produce a full head of lettuce that you don’t need to wash anymore,” he said, “but people are used to washing it anyway so the added value would probably be limited.”

He added: “There is already a market [for wholehead lettuce you don’t have to wash] in North America and Asia Pacific but in countries with really high horticultural standards like the UK, Netherlands and Scandinavia I don’t think we would easily replace a greenhouse.”

Produce from indoor farms is typically twice the price, costing around the same as organic produce, however this could reduce in future as LEDs become cheaper and more efficient and higher-yielding varieties are developed.

Your Relationship With Fish Is About To Change

Your Relationship With Fish Is About To Change

Monica Jain | Monica Jain leads Fish 2.0 and Manta Consulting Inc. She is passionate about oceans, impact investing, fisheries and building networks around these themes.

A wave of change is upending the seafood business as we know it. Here’s what it means for everyone from investors to fish stick aficionados.

It’s 2027, and we’re no longer gorging ourselves on shrimp. Or tuna. Or salmon. Not because they’ve disappeared from the oceans or we’re appalled by how they’re produced, but because we’re eating so many other delicious fish from land and sea — like porgy, dogfish, lionfish, barramundi, and others we’ve yet to meet.

We also know exactly what fish we’re eating and where it comes from — sometimes we even know the fishers by name — so we can make confident choices based on nutrition and sustainability factors. Fishing communities are healthier too: they serve local as well as export markets, and new seafood products boost their economic base. Unsustainable seafood just doesn’t sell: consumers walk away from it the way they avoid foods with transfats today.

This scenario might sound ridiculous to people focused on the historically slow rate of change in an industry with a complex and often low-tech global supply chain. People assume that change will continue to plod along. I don’t believe that.

The pace has already picked up dramatically. Governments, big industry players, entrepreneurs and investors are focused on seafood sustainability like never before. Several drivers are kicking in at once.

• We’re realizing that we’re going to run out of food if we don’t find alternative supplies and environmentally sound production methods. Seafood is a healthy, high-quality protein source. It tastes good and we can grow it sustainably.
• People are more interested in where their seafood comes from and what’s in it. And they increasingly see quality and sustainability as linked product attributes — I hear this from seafood buyers all the time.
• Emerging technologies that will clear up seafood’s murky supply chain or allow aquaculture to flourish are being developed by multiple players, big and small.
• Investors are realizing that the seafood market is huge, and they’re seeking opportunities to make change in it. Feed for farm-raised fish alone is a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

Over the past five years, as I’ve built the Fish 2.0 business competition, I’ve seen an overwhelming number of creative ideas bubbling up with highly qualified entrepreneurial teams behind them. Their innovations, combined with powerful social and environmental forces, are creating a new world both above and below the ocean’s surface.

How seafood is like lettuce

It’s not so unlikely that this magnitude of change will happen quickly. What happened with greens in produce is going to happen with seafood: more variety, more demand for local products, greater awareness of sustainability factors, a focus on quality, and the rise of seafood superfoods. We’re already seeing seafood follow the broader food world. The Emerging Trends to Watch in 2017 report from Rabobank’s senior analyst for consumer foods, Nicholas Fereday, calls out increased attention to food waste, more capital flowing to early-stage consumer brands that respond to unmet consumer needs, the demand for supply chain transparency and ethical sourcing, and the rise of personalized approaches to nutrition. These trends already are emerging in the seafood industry.

Considering them in light of the momentum behind solutions to seafood’s specific challenges, I see seven key changes happening in seafood over the next decade.

1. Diversity rules.

Right now, seafood is in its iceberg lettuce stage. Americans generally eatfive types of seafood: shrimp (the most popular by a wide margin), followed by tuna, salmon, tilapia, and Alaskan pollock (usually in fish sticks and the like). We’re about to grow out of that. Is lionfish the new kale? I don’t know, but I am confident that within 10 years, people will eat a much greater diversity of seafood, they will trust the people who introduce new items to them, and they’ll always be on the lookout for something new, just as we are with our greens these days.

The trends outlined below will contribute to the shift toward diverse seafood diets. We’re starting to see a glimmer of this shift with sustainability-focused chefs like Bun Lai introducing diners to invasive species or fish that used to get tossed off the boat, and companies like Love the Wild packaging sustainably farmed fish with sauces to make trying something new easier than eating the same old thing.

2. Seafood goes local.

Every place where seafood is captured will have supply chains that put local seafood in local markets. Right now, locavores often get stumped by seafood. Even if you live on the coast of a major fishery, it’s hard to get local fish outside of high-end restaurants. The supply chain simply isn’t set up for local distribution. In Monterey, for example, there’s no landing and storage facility for local seafood. And that is typical of coastal regions throughout the world. Consumer demand, combined with the need for local fishers to diversify their supply chains and earn higher prices, is changing this situation.

You can see it in the emergence of community-supported fishery (CSF) options, which apply the direct-from-the-farm (CSA) model to seafood. The Wall Street Journal counted 30 CSFs in 2014; LocalCatch.org’s Seafood Locator now lists 75 CSFs, and the organization believes there are many more. Real Good Fish sells local seafood this way in Northern California, and Catch of the Season does it in Alaska, to name just two of the many operations I know.

3. Traceability and transparency are the price of admission.

Remember when coffee was just coffee? Now we know where it’s from, who picked it, if it grew in shade or sun, and more. Ten years from now, I believe that seafood will be the same. We’ll know where our seafood came from, how it was captured, and how long it’s been out of the water. This information will become so common that there won’t be a price differential for pedigreed fish, and mystery fish just won’t have a market in the U.S.

In fact it’s already happening, as tightening government regulations, expanding consumer interest in knowing where their food comes from, and technological innovation converge. Entrepreneurs worldwide are targeting links throughout the supply chain, including TRUfish, which offers DNA testing of sample fish from batches, allowing resellers and consumers to verify that the species on offer are what the seller says they are; Salty Girl Seafood, which allows consumers to trace their preseasoned frozen or smoked fish via a code on the package; and Bangkok-based FairAgora Asia’s Verifik8 software, which tracks, manages and displays social and environmental data on seafood operations.

4. We solve the fish feed problem.

Farmed fish need food, and it’s in increasingly scarce supply. Fish eat other fish in the wild, and right now, they do in farms too. Fish meal and fish oil also turn up in foods for people and pets. With wild forage fish stocks either stable or declining, demand is outpacing supply as aquaculture grows and fish feed prices are rising. This is obviously not sustainable. The fish feed industry is a huge target for innovation, and we’re starting to see results from the hunt for nutritious fish feeds that don’t require other fish. Algae, soybeans, oil seed, insects and bacteria are all getting trials. Development is proceeding quickly enough to say that seafood produced at scale without fish-based feeds is a realistic vision for the next decade.

The result will be not only a more stable supply of feed for aquaculture, but also new opportunities for islands to diversify their economies by growing locally abundant new feeds using algae and seaweed — perhaps leading to even more nutritious seafood products on our tables.

5. Aquaculture fills more of our seafood plate.

It has to. We can’t keep drawing on wild fish stocks, and seafood is one of the few animal proteins that can we grow sustainably. The advent of new fish feeds will fuel aquaculture expansion. At the same, innovative technologies and farming approaches for scalable closed-loop aquaculture systems on land and responsible open-water systems will provide healthier, more delicious fish. Already, Acadia Harvest is selling California yellowtail, or “hiramasa,” grown on land in Maine; Kampachi Farms is pioneering sashimi-grade fish farming in the Sea of Cortez; and SabrTech’s RiverBox system, which reduces pollution from farm runoff and grows an algae-based feed from the captured wastewater, and Bangkok-based Green Innovative Biotechnology’s advanced feed supplement could remake aquaculture in Southeast Asia.

6. Waste turns into value.

Waste will drop from being about 40 percent of seafood to about 10 percent over the next 10 years. Not only will we use more of the seafood we capture, we’ll also turn today’s wasted byproducts into valuable co-products. People are making leather out of fish skins. Fish scales, which are highly conductive, could be useful in solar cells and other applications. Less exotically, seafood entrepreneurs are looking at upcycled food uses for what’s often treated as waste, such as bottarga (cured grey mullet roe) and salmon jerky made from flesh that is typically discarded.

7. Sustainability is a given.

Sustainability will become so closely associated with quality in consumers’ minds that it’s nonnegotiable. Consumer demand for organic food continues to show double-digit growth, and sustainable seafood is primed to follow that path. We’ll want sustainable seafood because it’s better. In turn, businesses will recognize that a strong sustainability profile is critical to maintaining market share. We may even cease to use the term “sustainable seafood,” because sustainability will just be intrinsic to the word seafood.

A connected industry makes this future real

The innovations we need won’t emerge from a vacuum. To make this vision real in a short time frame, partnerships are essential, just like in the tech world. In order for any of this to happen we need greater connectivity in seafood’s vast, complex global supply chain. The links in that chain — including investors — need to get to know one another. Those connections will breed product and business model innovations. Seafood will move through a distributed network instead of a fragmented supply chain. Together, we’ll spark something new.

And we’ll be able to have our fish and eat them too.

Indoor Ag-Con Returns to Las Vegas to Discuss Farm Economics and New Technology Trends in Hydroponics, Aquaponics & Aeroponics

Indoor Ag-Con Returns to Las Vegas to Discuss Farm Economics and New Technology Trends in Hydroponics, Aquaponics & Aeroponics

Indoor Ag-Con – the indoor agriculture industry’s premier conference – will be returning to Las Vegas for the fifth year on May 3-4, 2017 to discuss the prospects for this increasingly important contributor to the global food supply chain.

LAS VEGAS, NV (PRWEB) MARCH 10, 2017

Indoor agriculture – growing crops using hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic techniques – has become popular as consumer demand for “local food” leads growers to add new farms in industrial and suburban areas across the country. Indoor Ag-Con – the industry’s premier conference – will be returning to Las Vegas for the fifth year on May 3-4, 2017 to discuss the prospects for this increasingly important contributor to the global food supply chain.

The two-day event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and is tailored toward corporate executives from the technology, investment, vertical farming, greenhouse growing, and food and beverage industries, along with hydroponic, aquaponic and aeroponic startups and urban farmers. It is unique in being crop-agnostic, covering crops from leafy greens and mushrooms to alternate proteins and legal cannabis. Participants will receive an exclusive hard copy of the newest edition in a popular white paper series, which is sponsored by Urban Crops and will focus on the US industry’s development.

The event will consist of keynotes from industry leaders and extended networking breaks, along with a 50+ booth exhibition hall. This already includes industry majors such as Certhon, Dosatron, DRAMM, Hort Americas, Philips Lighting, Priva, and Transcend Lighting. A new addition for 2017 is “lunch and learn” sessions covering practical topics such as health and safety. Confirmed speakers include executives from Argus Controls, Autogrow, Bright Agrotech, CropKing, Fresh Box Farms, Grobo, Intravision, Plenty, Priva, Shenandoah Farms and Village Farms among many others. “We’re expecting that the big themes for this year will be farm economics and the commercialization of newer technologies such as machine learning, and are excited to have gathered experts from across the world to speak. The entrepreneurs in our funding session have raised more than $50mn for their indoor farms in the past year alone, and one speaker is operating a 100k ft2 commercial controlled environment farm” commented Nicola Kerslake, founder of Newbean Capital, the event’s host.

Agriculture technology companies, suppliers and automation companies will have the chance to meet and mingle with leading vertical farmers and commercial greenhouse operators at a drinks party on the first evening of the event. Event sponsors include Autogrow, Urban Crops, Kennett Township, Freight Farms, Grodan, Joe Produce, Crop One Holdings and Grobo.

Beginning farmers, chefs and entrepreneurs can apply for passes to the event through the Nextbean program, which awards a limited number of complimentary passes to those who have been industry participants for less than two years. Applications are open through March 31, 2017 at Indoor Ag-Con’s website. The program is supported by Newbean Capital, the host of Indoor Ag-Con, and by Kennett Township, a leading indoor agriculture hub that produces half of the US’s mushrooms.

Indoor Ag-Con has also hosted events in Singapore, SG and New York, NY in the past year, and will host its first event in Dubai – in partnership with greenhouse major Pegasus Agriculture – in November 2017. Since it was founded in 2013, Indoor Ag-Con has captured an international audience and attracted some of the top names in the business. Events have welcomed nearly 2,000 participants from more than 20 countries.

Newbean Capital, the host of the conference, is a registered investment advisor; some of its clients or potential clients may participate in the conference. The Company is ably assisted in the event’s production by Rachelle Razon, Sarah Smith and Michael Nelson of Origin Event Planning, and by Michele Premone of Brede Allied.

5th Annual Indoor Ag-Con
Date – May 3-4, 2017
Place – South Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV
Exhibition Booths – available from $1,499 at indoor.ag
Registration – available from $399 at indoor.ag
Features – Two-day seminar, an exhibition hall, and after-party

For more information, please visit http://www.indoor.ag/lasvegas or call 775.623.7116

Fish And Fresh Greens At The Farmory in Green Bay

Fish And Fresh Greens At The Farmory in Green Bay

By: Kris Schuller 

Posted: Mar 02, 2017 07:04 PM CST

Updated: Mar 02, 2017 10:18 PM CST

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - An old armory turned into the Farmory continues to move forward in Green Bay. We head inside this indoor farm that one day may provide the perch for your favorite fish fry. 

Inside an old armory now called the Farmory - fish swim and greens grow. A collaboration of many aimed at creating this indoor farming system, to eventually help people learn how to help themselves.

“We want to transform the local food economy and show there is an opportunity for Wisconsin residents to grown year-round either in their homes or businesses for themselves.” said Alex Smith, director of the Farmory.

In operation for a year, part of NeighborWorks Green Bay, this non-profit indoor aquaponics farm grows yellow perch in tanks and leafy greens in potted soil. 

“It's a symbiotic relationship between the two,” said Jimmy Pandl, a member of the board Farmory. “The fish waste feeds the plants; the plants need the water and it's recirculated to help the fish grow.”

Farmory Director Smith says the goal is to have 50 aquaponic systems in operation by the fall and to grow 173,000 pounds of mixed salad greens each year. In fact, it is a crop that is already bringing in cash.

“February 1st, we actually sold our first batch of mixed greens to The Cannery and they’ve been using them ever since,” said Smith.

As for the perch Pandl expects they'll bring 50,000 fish per year to market.

“We want to do perch because of the history in the community here and because of the demand really - we know we can sell it,” said Pandl.

“People love yellow perch, it's the Wisconsin fish for any fish fry,” said Smith.

But to operate at capacity as an indoor agriculture center the Farmory needs to raise $3.4 million.  Smith says those efforts are underway and the goal will be met. She believes the community sees the Farmory's value and the area's need.

“The Farmory is really here for a long-term solution to the food insecurity in this community,” Smith said.

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There Are Acres of Leafy Greens Inside These Shipping Crates On An Old St. Petersburg Junkyard

There Are Acres of Leafy Greens Inside These Shipping Crates On An Old St. Petersburg Junkyard

• Laura Reiley, Times Food Critic

Friday, February 17, 2017 10:48am

ST. PETERSBURG — The would-be farmers bought three transoceanic refrigerated shipping containers, just a little dinged up, for $6,500 each.

Shannon O'Malley and Bradley Doyle had them hauled to a distressed property they purchased on Second Avenue S and painted them a vibrant green. The green of John Deere tractors and regimented rows of farm crops.

Because this is what they were building: A farm. Brick Street Farms.

The property had been used as a junk yard and asphalt dump for years. They hauled 57 loads of trash away on a 50-yard dump truck. It took eight months to clean and level the property before they could bring in their three slightly used shipping containers, two rows of picnic tables and a tall fence to discourage the lookie-loos.

You can't blame the loos for looking. This is Pinellas County's first and only commercial-size, indoor, hydroponic farm. These three upcycled containers have the ability to grow the equivalent of 6 acres of traditionally farmed leafy greens, herbs and edible flowers, using a minimum of water and no pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.

There is no dirt, there are no bugs and produce is delivered "plate ready" to the Vinoy, Brick & Mortar, Rococo Steak, Souzou, Stillwaters Tavern and BellaBrava, all in St. Petersburg. O'Malley aims to sell everything she produces within five miles of Brick Street Farms.

In this era of locavore fever, you can't get much more local than that.

Indoor, hydroponic, vertical farms are popping up in urban spaces around the globe. A dwindling amount of arable land due to industrialization, urban sprawl and climate pressures, coupled with population growth (9 billion people predicted on Earth by 2050!), has led many people to think creatively about our food supply.

Farmer Dave Smiles launched a 24,000-square-foot warehouse in Tampa in 2015 doing similar indoor vertical farming. In the same year in Newark, New Jersey a steel-supply company was taken over by a new indoor-agriculture company called AeroFarms, filling it with 70,000-square-feet of vertical kale, bok choi, watercress and such. In January, the New Yorker ran an exuberant article about the future of urban farming without soil or natural light.

But it's not easy: The nation's largest indoor farm, FarmedHere, which opened in 2013 in an abandoned warehouse in Bedford Park, Ill., closed its 90,000-square-foot facility in January. While CEO Nate Laurell didn't say precisely what had gone awry, it is clear that growing large enough to offset equipment, energy and labor costs proved tricky.

There are, O'Malley says, considerable costs to running the operation, but she declined to say what the farm's ongoing costs are.

"Hydroponics aren't new, this technology isn't new and all the technology we used is 'off the shelf,'" said O'Malley, 35, who recently quit her job at Duke Energy to work the farm full time. Doyle, 37, still works in information technology at Duke Energy.

Here's how it works. Each container is its own climate, kale in the one on the right, herbs in the middle one and heirloom lettuces on the left. There are three inches of insulation, plus reflective roofing to keep things cool, plus air conditioning (lettuces like it chilly, around 60 degrees). Everything is grown from non-GMO heirloom seeds, spending two weeks in the seedling area before each tiny root plug is transplanted to a white vertical tower, fitted into a mesh of recycled food-safe plastic.

The plant lives in the tower for three to five weeks, with recirculated water running down a felt wicking strip to feed the plants.

Strips of red and blue Phillips high-efficiency LED lights provide the sunshine (although because electricity is cheaper at night, the plants "daytime" is in the evening. From there, it gets complicated. Computers take readings of the plants every seven minutes — pH levels get adjusted, CO2 levels are tweaked, plant nutrients are measured in electrical conductivity and there's special air circulation for proper "plant transpiration."

According to O'Malley, this kind of indoor vertical farming uses one tenth the water of traditional farming and a tenth of the fuel (a traditional farm uses fuel to run the equipment and deliver product, for an indoor farm fuel costs are all electricity).

So how does all this high-tech food taste?

Glorious. Basil leaves as big as a catcher's mitt (well, a kid's mitt), rainbow chard and lacinato kale. Pea shoots and micro kohlrabi, arugula and red amaranth. The Vinoy is using a special mix of Brick Street lettuces in their salads and Rococo Steak will host a farm-to-table dinner at the farm on Feb. 25.

"It's a much more consistent product and a much cleaner product because it's not grown in dirt," says Jeffrey Jew, the executive chef at Stillwaters Tavern and BellaBrava. "It's super cool what they're doing. I know at the beginning Shannon was looking for chefs and restaurants to sell to. But now they're pretty much maxed out."

It's true. O'Malley and Doyle are looking to buy more containers, their goal seven across and stacked two deep. They don't envision doing a community supported agriculture subscription in which consumers buy a share of a farm, a popular model for more traditional farms. But they do sell direct to the public on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons.

They spend a lot of their time explaining what they're doing. No, they're not growing cannabis. No, it's not U-pick. No, it's not open to the public. And it's not a garden. It's not a laboratory.

It's a farm. You just have to think inside the box.

Contact Laura Reiley at lreiley@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2293. Follow @lreiley. 

Why We Need Technology As The Key Ingredient In Our Food

Peter Diamandis, ContributorChairman XPRIZE

Why We Need Technology As The Key Ingredient In Our Food

02/17/2017 01:54 pm ET | Updated 15 hours ago

hen asked how food security and production can be improved in Africa, former Rwandan minister and current president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Agnes Kaliba, had one simple answer: “Access to technologies.”

Ms. Kaliba is exactly right. We are sitting at the cusp of an explosion in exponential technologies, which can be the most critically important ingredients to improve the health and quality of life for all humanity.

The World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian organization in the world, estimates that some 795 million people do not have enough to eat to maintain their health. Additionally, we have faced an unprecedented number of large-scale emergencies — Syria, Iraq and the El Niño weather phenomenon in Southern Africa. Just last month, WFP stepped up support for tens of thousands of displaced Syrians returning home to the ruins of eastern Aleppo City, providing hot meals, ready-to-eat canned food and staple food items such as rice, beans, vegetable oil and lentils. Like Agnes Kaliba in Nairobi, WFP has resolved that technology will help most rapidly in providing better assistance in emergencies and achieve a world without hunger.

Singularity University (SU), which I co-founded with Ray Kurzweil in 2008, is a benefit organization focused on using exponential technologies to solve our Global Grand Challenges. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ertharin Cousin, the Executive Director of WFP, announced a new partnership with SU for a Global Impact Challenge for food.

Our Challenge is soliciting bold ideas from innovators around the world on how to create a sustainable supply of food after the onset of a crisis. In this way, we can help vulnerable families support their own households and reduce their dependence on external assistance. Entries can range from concepts to implemented innovations. Shortlisted winners will be invited to a bootcamp at the WFP Innovation Accelerator in Munich to flesh out their ideas with WFP innovators. One team will be selected to attend an all-expenses-paid, nine-week Global Solutions Program at Singularity University at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley.

Here are some examples of moonshot thinking – and how converging exponential technologies are already reinventing food:

• Vertical Farming: If 80% of our planet’s arable land is already in use, then let’s look up. The impact of technology in vertical farming is powerful. In addition to maximizing the use of land, we can use AI to control the exact frequency and duration of light and pH and nutrient levels of the water supply. Vertical farms using clean-room technologies avoid pesticides and herbicides, and the fossil fuels used for plowing, fertilizing, harvesting and food delivery. Vertical farms are immune to weather, with crops grown year-round. One acre of a vertical farm can produce 10x to 20x that of a traditional farm. And if roughly one-quarter of world’s food calories are lost or wasted in transportation, then let’s think local. The average American meal travels 1,500 miles before being consumed. Moreover, 70 percent of a food’s final retail price is the cost of transportation, storage and handling. These miles add up quickly. The vertical farming market was $1.1 billion in 2015, and projected to exceed $6 billion by 2022.

• Hydroponics and Aeroponics: Traditional agriculture uses 70 percent of the water on this planet. Hydroponics is 70 percent more efficient than traditional agriculture, and aeroponics is 70 percent more efficient than hydroponics. In times of war and natural disaster, there are no readily available food sources, so let’s think creatively on how we can grow food from — and in — the air.

• Bioprinting Meat: In 2016, it took 63 billion land animals to feed 7 billion humans. It’s a HUGE business. Land animals occupy one-third of the non-ice landmass, use 8% of our water supply and generate 18% of all greenhouse gases — more than all the cars in the world. Work is progressing on bioprinting (tissue engineering and 3D printing) to grow meat (beef, chicken and pork) and leathers in a lab. By bio-printing meat, we would be able to feed the world with 99% less land, 96% less water, 96% fewer greenhouse gases and 45% less energy.

• Shifting diets: Optimal health requires 10-20 percent of calories to come from protein. One example of innovative thinking comes from Africa, where farmers are installing fish ponds in home gardens, as the mud from the bottom of the pond also makes a great mineral-rich fertilizer. In the lab, scientists are investigating new biocrops.

This is just the beginning. If we are really serious about creating a vibrant ecosystem of sustainable food production, we need to be thinking exponentially and using technology to help create cost-efficient innovative solutions that can feed the world.

Tear Down the Barriers to Urban Farming

Tear Down the Barriers to Urban Farming

by: Dwane Jones Special to the AFRO

January 11, 2017

When applied to scenic farms nestled in quiet rural country-sides, the maxim “good fences make good neighbors” might ring true.

But that’s not always the case when you’re trying to build an urban farm. As essential as they can be, we actually find more than a few barriers in their way.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about fences and barriers in my role as Director of the University of the District of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development & Resilience inside the Columbia College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences. We call it “CAUSES” for short. In that role, I work on introducing urban agriculture to some of Washington, D.C.’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Given the large amount of vacant properties and unused space in many underserved urban areas (cities like Baltimore and Detroit come to mind), it may sound easy.  But it’s not. Case in point: In 2015, CAUSES leased three acres of vacant property directly across the street from a Metro stop in D.C.’s struggling Ward 7 to construct the East Capitol Urban Farm. A partnership between several agencies and organizations, East Capitol Urban Farm is the District’s largest-scale urban agriculture and aquaponics facility. It’s an ambitious effort to bring healthy produce to an underserved area of the District.

We began planning the project in early 2015. During the University’s initial site visit, the first order of business was to determine how we would actually walk the vacant parcel — considering the 8-foot high chain link fence surrounding it. Residential properties surround the site on the south and west. The Capitol Heights Metro stop is on the east and a vacant parcel is to the north.

That parcel, incidentally, was under construction at the time for use by Wal-Mart. That project was shelved and the lot stayed empty.

What seemed like a straightforward walk through the site became much more complicated since we didn’t have a key to the gate. Searching for a way in, the team eventually climbed over a wall and through a small opening to access the site. But the physical barrier of the fence and our valiant attempts at scaling it led to much deeper questions. What social implications did such a fence have in Ward 7? What was the purpose of erecting it? How was it interpreted or perceived by the community?

We came to realize that the chain link fence, while probably erected as a safety measure, sent a powerful message of exclusion to people in the neighborhood. It’s a message that echoes the larger story of access and food security in places like Ward 7. For a long time, society has sent a message (intentional or not) to underrepresented populations that fresh, local produce, as well as access to community-oriented landscapes, is out of reach – or, at best, a real challenge to access.  The nature of fencing, in this case, may play a role in how the urban farm is perceived and utilized.

So, in our first major site planning for East Capitol Urban Farm, when someone asked “Where do we start?” I couldn’t help but recall those now-famous words from former President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 speech to West Berliners: “Tear down that wall!” I quickly responded: “Let’s tear down the fence. It sends the message to keep out or stay away.

“That’s the very opposite of what we intend.”

Rather than continue limiting community access, we eventually erected a 4-ft. high wrought iron fence to encompass a portion of the farm which set a boundary around the different zones contained within the space. Since then, the gates are always unlocked and the community has access to the farm from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week.

East Capitol Urban Farm is now embraced, supported, and operated by its community. Removing barriers has afforded Ward 7 residents the opportunity to: plant over 3,600 produce plants; operate 70 garden spaces; engage over 300 D.C. Public School Students in over 2,500 hours of trade learning; launch a Farmers Market; and employ (part-time) three residents and three UDC students.

At the East Capitol Urban Farm, the fence merely delineates a boundary, a line that outlines the zones of each portion of the farm. It does not represent limitations on a better quality of life. For the people of Ward 7, this is a very crucial and important distinction that removes one barrier at a time.

Dwane Jones, PH.D., is the director of the Center for Sustainable Development and Resilience, a division of the University of the District of Columbia College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Jones conducts research and teaches courses in Urban Sustainability, Urban Design, Urban Planning and Low Impact Development. He is a member of the Urban Resilience Project.

Designing An Aquaponic Unit

Designing An Aquaponic Unit

Summary

Aquaponics is the integration of recirculating aquaculture and hydroponics in one production system. In aquaponics, the aquaculture effluent is diverted through plant beds and not released to the environment, while at the same time the nutrients for the plants are supplied from a sustainable, cost-effective and non-chemical source. This integration removes some of the unsustainable factors of running aquaculture and hydroponic systems independently. The technology presented in this document, provides a description of the concept of aquaponics and an overview of the three most common methods of aquaponics being utilized at present. In addition, the factors to consider when selecting a site for an aquaponic unit and the components essential for any method of aquaponics are described in details in this document.

Description

Introduction:

Aquaponics is a technique that combines hydroponics and aquaculture in a single system that cultivates plants in recirculated aquaculture water (Figure 1). 

Hydroponics is the most common method of soil-less culture (growing agricultural crops without the use of the soil), which includes growing plants either on a substrate or in an aqueous medium with bare roots. The substrate provides plant support and moisture retention. Irrigation systems are integrated within these substrates, thereby introducing a nutrient solution to the plants’ root zones. This solution provides all of the necessary nutrients for plant growth.

Aquaculture is the captive rearing and production of fish and other aquatic animal and plant species under controlled conditions The four major categories of aquaculture include open water systems (e.g. cages, longlines), pond culture, flow-through raceways and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). A RAS is the most applicable method for the development of integrated aquaculture agriculture systems because of the possible use of by-products and the higher water nutrient concentrations for vegetable crop production.

Aquaponics is a form of integrated agriculture that combines two major techniques, aquaculture and hydroponics. In one continuously recirculating unit, culture water exits the fish tank containing the metabolic wastes of fish. The water first passes through a mechanical filter that captures solid wastes, and then passes through a biofilter that oxidizes ammonia to nitrate. The water then travels through plant grow beds where plants uptake the nutrients, and finally the water returns, purified, to the fish tank. The biofilter provides a habitat for bacteria to convert fish waste into accessible nutrients for plants. These nutrients, which are dissolved in the water, are then absorbed by the plants. This process of nutrient removal cleans the water, preventing the water from becoming toxic with harmful forms of nitrogen (ammonia and nitrite), and allows the fish, plants, and bacteria to thrive symbiotically. Moreover, the converted fish waste provides all of the fertilizer required by the plants. Thus, all the organisms work together to create a healthy growing environment for one another, provided that the system is properly balanced.

Aquaponics is a technique that has its place within the wider context of sustainable intensive agriculture, especially in family-scale applications. It offers supportive and collaborative methods of vegetable and fish production and can grow substantial amounts of food in locations and situations where soil-based agriculture is difficult or impossible. Aquaponics is most appropriate where land is expensive, water is scarce, and soil is poor. Deserts and arid areas, sandy islands and urban gardens are the locations most appropriate for aquaponics because it uses an absolute minimum of water.

Aquaponic systems are expensive because they require the installation of a full aquaculture system and a hydroponic system. Despite this, units can be designed and scaled to meet the skill and interest level of many farmers. Aquaponics is quite adaptable, and can be developed with local materials and domestic knowledge, and to suit local cultural and environmental conditions. It will always require a dedicated and interested person, or group of persons, to maintain and manage the system on a daily basis.

Types of aquaponic units:

a) Media Bed Technique (MBT):

Media-filled bed units are the most popular design for small-scale aquaponics. This method is strongly recommended for most developing regions. These designs are efficient with space, have a relatively low initial cost and are suitable for beginners because of their simplicity. In media bed units, the medium is used to support the roots of the plants and also the same medium functions as a filter, both mechanical and biological. There are many designs for media beds, and this is probably the most adaptable technique. Moreover, recycled materials can easily be repurposed to hold the media and the fish (Figure 2).

b) Nutrient Film Technique (NFT):

The NFT is a hydroponic method using horizontal pipes each with a shallow stream of nutrient-rich water flowing through it. Plants are placed within holes in the top of the pipes, and are able to use this thin film of nutrient-rich water. This technique is far more complicated and expensive than media beds, and may not be appropriate in locations with inadequate access to suppliers. It is most useful in urban applications, especially when vertical space or weight-limitations are considerations. In addition, this technique requires separate mechanical and biofiltration components, in order to respectively remove the suspended solids and oxidize the dissolved wastes (ammonia to nitrate) (Figure 3).

c) Deep Water Culture (DWC):

The DWC method involves suspending plants in polystyrene sheets, with their roots hanging down into the water. This method is the most common for large commercial aquaponics, growing one specific crop (typically lettuce, salad leaves or basil), and is more suitable for mechanization. On a small-scale, this technique is more complicated than media beds, and may not be suitable for some locations, especially where access to materials is limited. As in the NFT, separate mechanical and biological filters are needed (Figure 4, and 5).

However, the aquaponic DWC units can be designed without a filtration system. These units carry a very low stocking density of fish (i.e. 1–1.5 kg of fish per m3 of fish tank), and then rely mainly on the plant root space and the interior area of the canals as the surface area to house the nitrifying bacteria. Simple mesh screens capture the large solid waste, and the canals serve as settling tanks for fine waste. The advantage -of this method is the reduction in initial economic investment and capital costs, while at the same time eliminating the need for additional filter containers and materials, which can be difficult and expensive to source in some locations (Figure 6).

Consideration while designing an aquaponic unit:

1. Site Selection:

Be sure to choose a site that is stable and level. Some of the major components of an aquaponic system are heavy, leading to the potential risk of the legs of the system sinking into the ground. This can lead to disrupted water flow, flooding or catastrophic collapse. Find the most level and solid ground available. Concrete slabs are suitable, but do not allow any components to be buried, which can lead to tripping hazards. If the system is built on soil, it is useful to grade the soil and put down material to mitigate weeds. In addition, place concrete or cement blocks under the legs of the grow beds to improve stability. Stone chips are often used to level and stabilize soil locations. Moreover, it is important to place the fish tanks on a base; this will help to provide stability, protect the tank, allow for plumbing and drains on the tank bottom, and thermally isolate it from the ground.

a) Exposure to wind, rain and snow:

Extreme environmental conditions can stress plants and destroy structures. Strong prevailing winds can have a considerable negative impact on plant production and can cause damage to stems and reproductive parts. In addition, strong rain can harm the plants and damage unprotected electrical sockets. Large amounts of rain can dilute the nutrient-rich water, and can flood a system if no overflow mechanism is integrated into the unit. Snow causes the same problems as heavy rain, with the added threat of cold damage. It is recommended to locate the system in a wind-protected zone. If heavy rains are common, it may be worth to protect the system with a plastic-lined hoop house, although this may not be necessary in all locations.

b) Exposure to sunlight and shade:

Most of the common plants for aquaponics grow well in full sun conditions; however, if the sunlight is too intense, a simple shade structure can be installed over the grow beds. Some light sensitive plants, including lettuce, salad greens and some cabbages, will bolt in too much sun, go to seed and become bitter and unpalatable. Other tropical plants adapted to the jungle floor such as turmeric and certain ornamentals can exhibit leaf burn when exposed to excessive sun, and they do better with some shade. On the other hand, with insufficient sunlight, some plants can have slow growth rates. This situation can be avoided by placing the aquaponic unit in a sunny location. If a shady area is the only location available, it is recommended that shade-tolerant species be planted.

On the contrary, the fish do not need direct sunlight. In fact, it is important for the fish tanks to be in the shade or covered with a removable shading material that is placed on top of the tank. However, where possible, it is better to isolate the fish tanks using a separate shading structure. This will prevent algae growth and will help to maintain a stable water temperature during the day. Moreover, fish tanks are vulnerable to predators. Using shade netting, tarps or other screening over the fish tanks will prevent all of these threats.

c) Access to utilities:

In site selection, it is important to consider the availability of utilities. Electric outlets are needed for water and air pumps. These outlets should be shielded from water and equipped with a residual-current device (RCD) to reduce the risk of electrical shock. Moreover, the water source should be easily accessible, whether it is municipal water or rain collection units. Similarly, consider where any effluent from the system would go. Although extremely water efficient, aquaponic systems occasionally require water changes, and filters and clarifiers need to be rinsed. It is convenient to have some soil plants located nearby that would benefit from this water. The system should be located where it is easy for daily access because frequent monitoring and daily feeding are required. Finally, consider if it is necessary to fence the entire section. Fences are sometimes required to prevent theft and vandalism, animal pests and for some food safety regulations.

2.  Water quality in aquaponics:

Water is the life-blood of an aquaponic system (Figure 7). It is the medium through which plants receive their nutrients andfish receive their oxygen. It is very important to understand water quality and basic water chemistry in order to properly manage aquaponics.

There are five key water quality parameters for aquaponics: dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, water temperature, total nitrogen concentrations and hardness (KH). Each organism in an aquaponic unit has a specific tolerance range for each parameter of water quality. The tolerance ranges are relatively similar for all three organisms, but there is need for compromise and therefore some organisms will not be functioning at their optimum level.

Ideal parameters for aquaponics as a compromise between all three organisms

Water testing is essential for maintaining good water quality in the system. This starts from the selection of the water source: rainwater, aquifer water, tap water. Continue to test and keep records of the following water quality parameters each week: pH, water temperature, nitrate and carbonate hardness. Ammonia and nitrite tests should be used especially at system start-up and if abnormal fish mortality raises toxicity concerns.

3.  Essential components of an aquaponic unit:

a) Fish tank

Fish tanks are a crucial component in every unit. As such, fish tanks can account for up to 20 percent of the entire cost of an aquaponic unit. Although any shape of fish tank will work, round tanks with flat bottoms are recommended. The round shape allows water to circulate uniformly and transports solid wastes towards the centre of the tank by centripetal force.

It is recommended to use strong inert plastic or fibreglass tanks, because of their durability and

long life span. If using plastic containers, make sure that they are UV-resistant because direct sunlight can destroy plastic. In general, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) tanks are preferable because of their high resistance and food-grade characteristics. Other options include second hand containers, such as bathtubs, barrels or intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). It is very important to make sure that the container has not been used previously to store toxic material. Contaminants, such as solvent-borne chemicals, will have penetrated into the porous plastic itself and are impossible to remove with washing.

Regarding the tank color, white or other light colours are strongly advised as they allow easier viewing of the fish in order to easily check behaviour and the amount of waste settled at the bottom of the tank. White tanks will also reflect sunlight and keep the water cool. Alternatively, the outside of darker coloured tanks can be painted white. All fish tanks should be covered. The shade covers prevent algae growth. In addition, the covers prevent fish from jumping out (often occurs with newly added fish or if water quality is sub-optimal), prevent leaves and debris from entering, and prevent predators such as cats and birds from attacking the fish. Often, agricultural shading nets that block 80–90 percent of sunlight are used. The shade cloth can be attached to a simple wooden frame to provide weight and make the cover easy to remove.

b) Sump tank

The sump tank is a water collection tank at the lowest point in the system; water always runs downhill to the sump. This is often the location of the submersible pump. Sump tanks should be smaller than the fish tanks, and should be able to hold between one-fourth and one-third of the volume of the fish tank. For ebb-and-flow type media beds, the sump needs to be large enough to hold at least the entire volume of water in the grow beds.  External sump tanks are mainly used in media bed units; however, for DWC units the actual hydroponic canal can be used as a sump tank / pump house also.  

On the other hand, very small units with fish tanks up to 200 litres can simply pump water from the fish tank to the grow beds, from where water trickles back down into the fish tank. In this case the use of a sump tank is not required.

c)  Filtration system

Some level of filtration is essential to all aquaponics, although fish stocking density and system design determines how much filtration is necessary. Mechanical filters separate solid wastes which are then removed from the system to prevent toxic gases from being released by harmful bacteria that feed on accumulated solid wastes. Moreover, the wastes can clog systems and disrupt water flow, causing anoxic conditions to the plant roots. For aquaponics, mechanical filtration is arguably the most important aspect of the design.

There are several types of mechanical filters. The simplest method is a screen or filter located between the fish tank and the grow bed. This screen catches solid wastes, and needs to be rinsed often. Similarly, water leaving the fish tank can pass through a small container of particulate material, separate from the media bed; this container is easier to rinse periodically. These methods are valid for some small-scale aquaponic units, but are insufficient in larger systems with more fish where the amount of solid waste is relevant. There are many types of mechanical filters, including sedimentation tanks, radial-flow clarifiers, sand or bead filters and baffle filters; each of them can be used according to the size of solid wastes that needs to be removed. For small-scale aquaponics, clarifiers or radial swirl filters are the most appropriate filters.

Biofiltration is the conversion of ammonia and nitrite into nitrate by living bacteria. Most fish waste is not filterable using a mechanical filter because the waste is dissolved directly in the water, and the size of these particles is too small to be mechanically removed. Therefore, in order to process this microscopic waste an aquaponic system uses microscopic bacteria. The biofilter is installed between the mechanical filter and the hydroponic containers. Many types of media can be used, including purpose-designed plastic pieces, volcanic gravel, plastic bottle caps, nylon shower poufs, netting, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shavings and nylon scrub pads.

The media beds themselves act as both mechanical filters and biofilters when using this technique, but additional mechanical filtration is sometimes necessary for higher fish densities (15 kg/m3). In a unit without the media beds, such as in NFT and DWC units, standalone filtration is necessary.

d) Aeration system

Another required component for aquaponics is aeration. Fish and plants need oxygen to breath, and nitrifying bacteria need adequate access to oxygen in order to oxidize the ammonia. One easy solution is to use air pumps, placing the air stones at the bottom of the container. This ensures that all the living organisms have constantly high and stable dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations.

Venturi siphons are another technique to increase the DO levels in aquaponics. Venturi siphons use a hydrodynamic principle that pulls in air from the outside (aspiration) when pressurized water flows with a faster speed through a pipe section of a smaller diameter. As the water in the main pipe is forced through the narrower section, it creates a jet effect.

e) Water movement

Water movement is fundamental for keeping all organisms alive in aquaponics. As mentioned before, the flowing water moves from the fish tanks, through the mechanical separator and the biofilter and finally to the plants in their media beds, pipes or canals, removing the dissolved nutrients. If water movement stops, the most immediate effect will be a reduction in DO and accumulation of wastes in the fish tank.

It is recommended to use a standard pump as the heart of an aquaponics unit. Most commonly an impeller-type submersible water pump is used. When installing an aquaponic unit, be sure to place the submersible pump in an accessible location because periodic cleaning is necessary.

Airlifts are another technique of lifting water. They use an air pump rather a water pump. Air is forced to the bottom of a pipe within the fish tank, bubbles form and burst, and during their rise to the surface the bubbles transport water with them.

Some aquaponic systems have been designed to use human power to move water. Water can be lifted in buckets or by using pulleys, modified bicycles or other means. A header tank can be filled manually and allowed to slowly drain throughout the course of the day. These methods are only applicable for small systems, and should only be considered where electricity is unavailable or unreliable.

f) Plumbing materials

Every system requires a selection of PVC pipe, PVC connections and fittings, hoses and tubes. These provide the channels for water to flow into each component. Bulkhead valves, uniseals, silicone sealant and Teflon tape are also needed. In addition, some general tools are needed such as hammers, drills, hand saws, electric saws, measuring tapes, pliers, channel-locking pliers, screwdrivers, levels, etc. One special tool is a hole-saw and/ or spade bit, which is used in an electric drill to make holes up to 8 cm, necessary for inserting the pipes into the fish tanks and filters, as well as for making holes in the PVC or polystyrene grow beds in NFT and DWC systems.

Make sure that the pipes and plumbing used in the system have never previously been used to hold toxic substances. It is also important that the plumbing used is of food-grade quality to prevent possible leaching of chemicals into the system water. It is also important to use pipes that are black and/or non-transparent to light, which will stop algae from growing.

g) Water testing kits

Simple water tests are a requirement for every aquaponic unit. Colour-coded freshwater test kits are readily available, fairly economical and easy to use, and thus these are recommended.

These can be purchased in aquarium stores or online. These kits include tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and water hardness (GH and KH). Be sure that the manufacturers are reliable and that the expiration date is still valid.

Other methods include digital meters or test strips. If using digital meters for pH or nitrate, be sure to calibrate the units according to the manufacturer’s directions. A thermometer is necessary to measure water temperature. In addition, if there is risk of saltwater in the source water, a cheap hydrometer, or a more accurate but more expensive refractometer, is worthwhile.

The basic aquaponic system works in a wide range of conditions, and units can be designed and scaled to meet the skill and interest level of many farmers. However, its success is derived from the appropriate selection of the locations while considering its limitations, the maintenance and management of the system on a daily basis by a motivated farmer or group of farmers..

There is a wide variety of aquaponic designs, ranging from high-tech to low-tech, and from high to reasonable price levels. The three most common methods of aquaponics and their management are described in the following technologies:

1.   Designing an Aquaponic unit

2.   Media Bed Aquaponic Unit - Step by Step Description

3.   Nutrient Film Aquaponic Unit – Step by Step Description

4.   Deep Water Culture Aquaponic Unit – Step by Step Description

5.   Management of the Aquaponic Systems

See also

Management of the Aquaponic Systems

Deep Water Culture Aquaponic Unit – Step by Step Description

Nutrient Film Aquaponic Unit – Step by Step Description

Media Bed Aquaponic Unit - Step by Step Description

Further reading

Small-scale aquaponic food production - Integrated fish and plant farming (FAO, 2014): http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4021e/

7 rules-of-thumb to follow in aquaponics: http://www.fao.org/zhc/detail-events/en/c/320156/

Keywords

Aquaculture

hydroponics

aquaponics

Efficiency

soilless culture

Category

Fishery & aquaculture

Region

Central Asia

East Asia and Pacific

Latin America and Caribbean

Created date

Wed, 03/06/2015 - 16:19

Source(s)

Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (FI) in FAO

Fisheries and aquaculture have the capacity – if supported and developed in a regulated and environmentally sensitive manner – to contribute significantly to improving the well-being of poor and disadvantaged communities in developing countries and to achievement of several of the Millennium Development Goals, especially those related to poverty reduction and food and nutrition security, environmental protection and biodiversity. As part of a long-term strategy, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department (FI) is envisioning a world in which responsible and sustainable use of fisheries and aquaculture resources makes an appreciable contribution to human well-being, food security and poverty alleviation. In this regard, FI works towards strengthening global governance and the managerial and technical capacities of members and to lead consensus-building towards improved conservation and utilization of aquatic resources. The activities of FI reflect the main FAO mandate of managing knowledge and information, assuring a global neutral forum for Members and providing technical assistance at national, regional and global levels.

In addition, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department undertakes capacity development activities for marine and inland fisheries as well as aquaculture. These include training at different levels, preparation of training and extension materials for general or targeted training, awareness raising through workshops, and collaboration with partner training institutions.  The FI is also involved in the development of appropriate technical guidelines and the promotion of participatory approaches in sustainable and responsible aquatic resources management, including gender aspects.

The Aquaculture Branch of FI (FIAA) is particularly responsible for providing technical assistance towards sustainable and responsible aquaculture development and management in support of improving food and nutrition security and alleviating poverty, globally.

The Products, Trade and Marketing Branch (FIAM) of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of FAO, assists FAO member countries on all aspects related to post-harvest. FIAM provides technical assistance in areas such as marketing, trade, handling and processing and preservation of fish products, food safety and nutrition. As such, FIAM supports activities along the value chain aiming at a sustainable supply of fish and fishery products in the market, while securing greater benefits for actors in the value chain. FIAM has broad experience in the field of promotion fish consumption, through the dissemination of knowledge on the nutritional value of fish and fishery products, including the promotion of good hygienic practices at any level of the supply chain (on board canoes/vessels, landing sites, aquaculture farms, factories and sales points).  Local fishermen and processors are assisted to adapt best practices in order to reduce food losses and waste, and to promote an optimal use of their fishery by-products, improving their returns, minimizing the environmental impacts and contributing to food security. Finally, as fish and fishery products are among the most traded food commodities worldwide, FIAM coordinates the implementation of Globefish, a programme collecting and disseminating information on markets and fish trade. Globefish produces a number of publications including fish price reports (European Fish Price Report), market studies (GLOBEFISH Research Programme) and trend analysis (GLOBEFISH Highlights).

Contacts: 

Contact person: 

Aquaculture Branch of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resource Division

Contact email: 

FIAA-Chief@fao.org

Contact person: 

Alessandro Lovatelli (Aquaculture Branch)

Contact email: 

alessandro.lovatelli@fao.org

Contact person: 

Aina Randrianantoandro (Products, Trade and Marketing Branch)

Contact email: 

Aina.Randrianantoandro@fao.org

Web: 

http://www.fao.org/fishery/en

Country: 

Italy

The Aquaculture Industry, Other Than For Shellfish, Is Completely Dependent On The Animal Feed Industry That Sustains It

Grass Fed Fish

The Aquaculture Industry, Other Than For Shellfish, Is Completely Dependent On The Animal Feed Industry That Sustains It.

By John Reid*

This sounds almost silly to say because it is so obvious, but few fully understand where their feed comes from, and the changes that are accelerating amongst all animal feeds as well as for aquaculture diets. This is kind of like the old adage that most people think that “food comes from the supermarket”, forgetting about the role of farms that produce our food. With aquaculture, many people forget that (excluding fish meal) the source of all of our aquaculture feeds is not from our feed suppliers, but our farms, and in particular our soil, water resources, and climate.

There are four key global trends that are colliding to create a great opportunity and challenge for animal protein production and especially the aquaculture industry. The success of surmounting these will depend entirely on our feed sources. These four are: the growing global demand for more meat protein, skyrocketing population growth, soil erosion, and climate change factors like declining water availability, rising temperatures, and ocean acidification.

Immediately you may be beginning to think this is an article about some doomsday scenario; it is not, but only because I will be so bold as to say, because we will have addressed a major shift in the kinds of fish we grow and the feeds we feed them. This article is not necessarily a unique description of our challenges, but possibly a unique solution.

Macro Environment Challenges

The world’s population now stands above seven billion people and all estimates have it growing to about ten and a half billion by 2050. This is a growth increase of 35% or 1.5 million new people per week. We are adding (and need to feed) the equivalent of one additional New York City metropolitan area every two months!

A 35% growth in population means we need to increase the global food supply by at least 35%. This in itself is a daunting challenge to accomplish, but due to changing eating preferences towards higher meat consumption, it is expected that world food production will need to increase by nearly 100%. This is due to the additional feed needed to produce an increasing percent of animal protein.

In the next 35 years this 35% to 100% increase in food production needs to be created in as much as 30% less land than is available for today’s population. This is due to declining soil fertility, and soil erosion. In the US, an area the size of the state of Rhode Island is lost every year to soil erosion. Between 1840 and 1917 when the first soil surveys of the US were done, there was over eight feet of topsoil depth (or tilth) across the US. The average today is approximately eight inches. By some estimates soil loss in the US is greater now than it was during the ‘dust-bowl’ days of the 1930’s. (We have consumed our fossil soils in similar ways as our fossil fuels). The US has lost nearly 87% of its topsoil resources since the mid 1800’s. The loss of topsoil costs the US USD$36 billion every year in productivity losses.

Around the world soil is being lost 10 to 40 times faster than it is being replenished. Worldwide, cropland is shrinking by more than 10 million ha a year due to soil erosion (about the size of the state of Indiana every year). This implies that farming techniques used today are not sustainable, and production on much of the US and global soils needs to be changed to less soil intensive techniques. Next to (and irrespective of) Global Warming, soil loss is considered the greatest challenge to sustaining US and global food supplies. It is questionable that soils of US and the world can maintain their current output let alone sustain the massive increase in agriculture that will be needed to sustain population growth.

Compounding the dearth of soil tilth is diminishing water availability. Even if more land were pressed into agricultural production (at great cost to forests and biodiversity), there is not the water needed to support additional cultivation using existing practices. Some 70% of the planet is covered by water, but only 2% is fresh water, and of that 2%, 1.6% is (currently) contained in frozen ice caps, leaving only .4% available for the existing population of 7 Billion people. By 2025, the World Bank predicts that 66% of the world will run short of fresh drinking water and 80% of the world will be fresh water limited by 2050.

The water shortages for agriculture will be immense. Meeting crop demands in the next ten years, for 2025, when the world´s population will be ‘just’ 8 billion, will require a new volume of water equivalent to the entire flow of the Nile river, times ten! There just simply will not be enough water to increase current agricultural output by 100% using current practices. There may not even be enough to supply the base of 35% needed to feed the world as we do today.

Multiplying the negative impacts on food production, beyond the trends of soil loss and water shortages, are the effects of climate change or global warming. There are many impacts of global warming on agriculture that are too numerous to note here, but probably the largest will be the impact of excessive heat. With many crops already growing near their maximum heat tolerance, most crop yields will fall with any further rise in temperatures. Corn fails to form seed heads when average growing temperatures are above 95°F and soybean above 102°F. Crop yields are predicted to fall by much as 10% in the US and as much as 50% in Pakistan, or about a 30% global reduction in output due just to heat, not counting lost soil or limited water resources. There are many compounding factors like ethanol production but heat is one of the key factors for price spikes and long term increase in grain prices.

The impact of global warming on food supplies does not stop on land, but continues deep into the oceans. Not counting aquaculture, currently 16% to 20% of the world’s protein comes from ocean fisheries. Including the 5% of the world’s protein produced from fisheries products that are fed to animals, the oceans’ percent of global protein production is near 25%. Given that it takes 2 to 15 pounds of grain or fodder to grow a pound of protein on land, the 16% to 25% of global protein that comes from the oceans is reducing the load that terrestrial agriculture needs to produce protein by as much as 50% (assuming a good food conversion ratio or FCR of 2). Ocean yields in many areas are falling due to overfishing, but global warming will exacerbate declining ocean harvests. Even if ocean harvests remain constant, the 100% new food production needed will not have the ~25% subsidy that is currently provided by the oceans. This means we are likely faced with producing as much as 150% more food to maintain expected market preferences.       

Marine or ocean-based aquaculture cannot be counted as a true increase in ocean yields because it relies from 50% to 90% on terrestrially produced feeds. Aquaculture can create protein more efficiently but is not a true substitute for lost ocean harvests because even ocean aquaculture is dependent on land based soil and water resources to grow feed. Feeding terrestrial-based feeds to an ocean environment is also a form of soil erosion, a concept discussed more below.

Like the terrestrial impacts of global warming, impacts on fisheries yield are also too numerous to note here. Currently the largest impact is projected to come from changes in the pH of seawater, or ocean acidification. The dissolving of CO2 into seawater, forming carbonic acid, causes ocean acidification. Predictions on the decline in ocean fisheries yield due to ocean acidification are still preliminary but range from 10% to a 50% drop in all ocean yields by the end of this century. Calcium based shelled animals, like shrimp, crabs and mollusks are the most at risk. They represent 21% of all ocean harvests and their loss could be from 30% to a complete collapse of all production. In 2008, shellfish aquaculture producers in the US Pacific Northwest experienced an 80% drop in shellfish stocks due to drops in ocean pH. Regional stocks have since recovered to 70% of their previous total, but this one event is indicative of how sensitive ocean species are to pH changes. Based on the decline of calcareous algae, which are one of the key supports of the entire marine food system, many fish species may also be at risk.

The net impact of current trends of population growth, soil loss, water shortages, temperature rise, and ocean acidification, (and other factors not noted here) add up to a very challenging time to sustain existing production let alone provide the minimum need of 35% to 150% more food for the world.

The US food system is not likely to collapse but the price pressures put on US supply due to domestic and international demand for exports of protein and grain stock will push US food and especially US protein prices to rise much higher than the normal rates experienced over the last 50 years. This is a large opportunity for aquaculture markets to provide a competitive protein source but a huge challenge regarding the food supplies for aquaculture.

Grains As Our Food Base

The sustainability of aquaculture feed sources is directly related to the sustainability and to the very viability of the aquaculture industry itself. There has been a lot of attention paid to replacing fishmeal in diets given the well-discussed limitations of fishmeal supply, overfishing of fishmeal, as well as price limitations. Concurrent with reductions in use, or a complete shift away from fishmeal, have been innovations in other protein boosters, like insect diets, algae and other protein sources. But these are all added to a base of grains. Even though we are still developing effective all-grain diets, grains have become the backbone of the aquaculture industry, just like they are for Chicken, Pork and Beef.

However as noted above, it is highly likely that grains cannot carry the load of increased production in a sustainable way. Grains are delicious on their own, and provide a cornucopia of other uses, but they simply cannot be looked at as the base that will continue to supply the animal feed industry sustainably.

If soil tilth alone is used as an indication of sustainability we have been “deficit-spending”, draining the bank account of our soil tilth for a long time. Some could argue this goes back to the reasons humans migrated out of Mesopotamia to northern Europe, but that is another article. If one really does the math, the “global stoichiometry,” it simply does not add up to depend on grains for the long-term future of protein production or aquaculture’s food supply. I will be so bold again as to say: it is an inevitability that we must reduce our dependence on grains for all animal feeds, or reduce our dependence on animal protein.

Grass Based Feeds

Rather than everyone going on vegetarian diets, one proposed solution that would work could be grass-based feeds. Everything about grass production is nearly the opposite of grain production. Grasses use a fraction of the water and fertilizer of grains, are more heat-tolerant than grains, have equivalent, sometimes larger biomass yields and many types are high protein. Because grasses are mowed, and not tilled, they protect and grow soil tilth, not consume it. Grasses can be pelleted and processed in similar ways as grains, with many similar mineral and vitamin mixes added. But most importantly, grasses produced in sustainable ways, sequester carbon in huge quantities.

Some claim that a large percentage of carbon emissions causing global warming has come from our lost soils. Not just burning of oil, but soil volatizing back to gaseous carbon that was once sequestered in our deep soils. Even more dramatic is the possibility that converting a large portion of our grain base to grass could recapture this carbon and reduce annual carbon emissions by 25% or more. This is a large controversial topic, but some have powerful and well-grounded arguments that this could be a larger factor in slowing climate change than all the wind, solar or even nuclear production installed to date.

All current terrestrial species could grow well on grass-based diets since most evolved to eat grasses in the first place. Aquaculture has the ability to take the best advantage of grass diets, due to overall lower food conversion ratios, the fact that many fish species are efficient low protein consumers, and other well-known factors.

So how do grass based feeds get the world more production, not just the same equivalent yields in a more sustainable way? A large percentage of grass production will need to replace grain fields, and this is not likely to create any net-new production, but it helps reduce soil erosion and the yield killing impacts of global warming. Gains come when grasses are produced on lands that are now currently too poor to grow grains, land set-asides for soil-conservation purposes become moot, and a net increase in cultivable area is realized. The 60% to 70% lower water requirements of grasses can allow irrigated areas to double or triple their effective acreage. When greater net yields are combined with the greater efficiencies of aquaculture achieving the 35% increase in food production seems likely, and gives us a strong shot at supplying the expanding market for higher protein foods such as fish.

Grasses Are Not A Panacea (Yet)

As with any new approach to production, grass-based feeds need to undergo a lot of development to be commercially viable on the mass-scale that is needed. The first challenge is that commonly grown grasses are not as energy dense, nor protein rich as most grains. This author has worked with diets that were effectively 40% grasses, and 60% grains to boost protein to a minimal level of 28% that was fed to tilapia. Growth was about 90% that of the 32% protein diets used as a control. A good start but not a viable solution for most tilapia growers, and certainly not for other species requiring higher protein diets. Real progress will be made when the ratio can be flipped to 70% grass and just 30% grains or other additives, with equivalent or better growth rates.

This initial formula was based primarily on substituting alfalfa, since that was all that was commercially available at the time. But there are literally thousands of different types of grasses to work with. When these are combined with the new protein boosting compounds coming on the market, based on insects, a wide range of digestive enzymes, and a host of others, perfecting high protein diets in the 35% range seems very likely.

The other side of the coin to raising the protein level of feeds is lowering the protein requirements of fish. Chickens do very well on a 20% protein diet, and this is one reason they dominate the market as a low-cost protein. High chicken growth on low protein feed was not luck, this represents as much as 100 years of development from early modern chicken breeds like the Rhode Island Red to Arbor Acer’s (Avigen’s) breeding stock. Tilapia, grass carp and many others are good aquaculture options, but they are nearly wild-stock species. The genetic potential for fish species is so much greater than poultry, given their lower overhead as cold-blooded animals and many other reasons. We are just scratching the surface at breeding better strains of the existing species we have, or developing new low-protein eating species.

One other challenge for grass-based diets that must be considered is the recycling of aquaculture wastes back to farmland. The soil-regenerative capacity of grasses is large, but if the manure of aquaculture is thrown into rivers, or the ocean, it is a form of soil erosion. Manure is still the biomass of the soil and too much loss can out-strip the soil growth rate, and we are back again at the negative soil production rates we have currently. Applying aquaculture manure to farmland, to a substantial degree will preclude the use of saltwater production. Not to be a ‘soil-fascist’, there is of course some room to feed marine species with terrestrially sourced diets, but it must be kept at a minimum because saltwater manure cannot be applied to terrestrial fields. This places interesting constraints on the kind of aquaculture systems that can be used. Of course RAS comes to mind, but the use of irrigation reservoirs as ponds, or culture cages in large reservoirs where the manure wastes can be cycled back to farmland, also become preferable methods of production.

A large advantage of grass-based feeds as a whole production program combining diets, genetics and production systems, is it is likely to be much more profitable than current aquaculture techniques. All the attributes that make grass-based feeds sustainable, also make it a less expensive production system. The opportunity exists to lower costs sufficiently to rival chicken as the low cost protein in the world, and the massive sales volumes that would come with that.

A Long-Term Program That Must Be Developed Quickly

Given all of the social and environmental issues noted here that are literally growing exponentially, there is a lot to do. To develop grass based feeds, a multidisciplinary approach is needed between farmers, feed mills, additive producers, livestock and aquaculture producers, and universities as well as governments to modify some laws, provide research funding and create some initial market incentives.

Options other than grass-diets may evolve, but whatever they are they will have to meet the basic tenants discussed here. I will be bold again to say that if these are not met, we will not be able to avoid huge calamities in food production, and all the societal issues that can spin out of food shortages. We categorically cannot continue as we are now for much more than 20 to a maximum of 30 years.

The good news is we have solutions. They will involve a large investment, but can generate huge opportunities. The opportunity is to generate a new low cost protein that can feed the world, upgrade protein levels for many, be sustainable, and possibly stop or even reverse global warming. Now this is a recipe worth pursuing. There was a Green Revolution, and a Blue Revolution – but this is the Teal Revolution, blending fish and fields, Green and Blue for Grass Fed Fish!

*John Reid Is the CEO of Waterfield Farms, Inc. He has over thirty years of experience in the design, finance and operations of food and energy companies. He has built and run multiple aquaculture and hydroponic systems as well as worked with co-generation and bio-fuels around the world.

How Antibiotic-Tainted Seafood From China Ends Up on Your Table

How Antibiotic-Tainted Seafood From China Ends Up on Your Table

You might want to pass on the shrimp cocktail.

by, Jason Gale, Lydia Mulvany, and Monte Reel

December 15, 2016, 10:00 AM GMT+1

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From the air, the Pearl River Delta in southern China’s Guangdong province resembles a mass of human cells under a microscope. Hundreds of thousands of tiny rectangular blocks, all of them shades of green, are clustered between cities and waterways. Livestock pens are scattered among the thousands of seafood farms that form the heart of the country’s aquaculture industry, the largest in the world.

Beside one of those fish farms near Zhaoqing, on a muggy day in June, a farmhand wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat hoses down the cement floor of a piggery where white and roan hogs sniff and snort. The dirty water from the pens flows into a metal pipe, which empties directly into a pond shared by dozens of geese. As the yellowish-brown water splashes from the pipe, tilapia flap and jump, hungry for an afternoon feeding.

Chinese agriculture has thrived for thousands of years on this kind of recycling—the nutrients that fatten the pigs and geese also feed the fish. But the introduction of antibiotics into animal feed has transformed ecological efficiency into a threat to global public health.

“We cannot trace if the shrimp is coming from ­Thailand or from China or from other countries. We cannot trace”

At another farm, in Jiangmen, a farmer scatters a scoop of grain to rouse her slumbering swine, penned on the edge of a pond with 20,000 Mandarin fish. The feed contains three kinds of antibiotics, including colistin, which in humans is considered an antibiotic of last resort. Colistin is banned for swine use in the U.S., but until November, when the Chinese government finally clamped down, it was used extensively in animal feed in China. Vials and containers for nine other antibiotics lie around the 20-sow piggery—on shelves, in shopping bags, and atop trash piles. Seven of those drugs have been deemed critically important for human medicine by the World Health Organization.

The overuse of antibiotics has transformed what had been a hypothetical menace into a clear and present one: superbugs, bacteria that are highly resistant to antibiotics. By British government estimates, about 700,000 people die each year from antibiotic-resistant infections worldwide. If trends continue, that number is expected to soar to 10 million a year globally by 2050—more people than currently die from cancer.

In November 2015 scientists reported the discovery of a colistin-resistant gene in China that can turn a dozen or more types of bacteria into superbugs. Since then the gene has been found in patients, food, and environmental samples in more than 20 countries, including at least four patients in the U.S. Food, it now appears, can be a crucial vector. “People eating their shrimp cocktails and paella may be getting more than they bargained for,” says Dr. Martin Blaser, a professor of microbiology and an infectious diseases physician at New York University Langone Medical Center who chairs President Barack Obama’s advisory panel for combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. “The penetration of antibiotics through the food chain is a big problem.”

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Photographer: Jamie Chung for Bloomberg Businessweek; Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero; Typography: Simon Abranowicz

Research has found that as much as 90 percent of the antibiotics administered to pigs pass undegraded through their urine and feces. This has a direct impact on farmed seafood. The waste from the pigpens at the Jiangmen farm flowing into the ponds, for example, exposes the fish to almost the same doses of medicine the livestock get—and that’s in addition to the antibiotics added to the water to prevent and treat aquatic disease outbreaks. The fish pond drains into a canal connected to the West River, which eventually empties into the Pearl River estuary, on which sit Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Macau. The estuary receives 193 metric tons (213 tons) of antibiotics a year, Chinese scientists estimated in 2013.

The $90 billion aquaculture trade accounts for almost half of all seafood harvested or caught, according to the United Nations. China supplies almost 60 percent of the global total and is the biggest exporter. U.S. food regulators have known about the country’s antibiotic problem for more than a decade. The Food and Drug Administration intensified its monitoring of imported farm-raised seafood from China in the fall of 2006 and found a quarter of the samples tested contained residues of unapproved drugs and unsafe food additives. The following June an import alert was applied to all farm-raised shrimp and several other kinds of seafood from China, allowing the agency to detain the products at port until each shipment is proved, through laboratory analysis, to be untainted.

But antibiotic-contaminated seafood keeps turning up at U.S. ports, as well as in restaurants and grocery stores. That’s because the distribution networks that move the seafood around the world are often as murky as the waters in which the fish are raised. Federal agencies trying to protect public health face multiple adversaries: microbes rapidly evolving to defeat antibiotics and shadowy seafood companies that quickly adapt to health regulations to circumvent them, moving dirty seafood around the world in much the same way criminal organizations launder dirty money.

The Chinese government is well aware that the use of antibiotics has gotten out of hand. In 2011 it initiated a campaign to reduce antibiotic use in humans, and since then the sale of antibiotics in Shanghai has fallen 31 percent. As last month’s ban on colistin suggests, there’s a new seriousness about antibiotic use in agricultural production as well. Nevertheless, China’s rates of drug resistance remain among the highest in the world. Surveys across the country have found 42 percent to 83 percent of healthy people carry in their bowels bacteria that produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamases, or ESBLs, which create reservoirs of potential pathogens that can destroy penicillin and most of its variants. The aquaculture products sold in Shanghai teem with bacteria that can’t be killed by common antibiotics. In almost a third of random seafood samples collected in Shanghai from 2006 to 2011, researchers found salmonella, a major cause of gastroenteritis in people. A closer examination of the germs showed that 43 percent of the samples harbored multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria.

Over the past year, scientists have tracked the spread of colistin-resistant bacteria throughout Asia, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere. In May the first report of an American infected with a colistin-resistant superbug was announced. More U.S. cases were reported in June and July. By August researchers were announcing that American patients had been infected with a strain of bacteria that had developed resistance to colistin and carbapenems, another type of antibiotic often used to treat patients in hospitals with multidrug-resistant infections.

Medicine packaging at a pig farm in Guangdong.

Photographer: Forbes Conrad for Bloomberg Businessweek

Initially, the resistant bacteria from breeding grounds such as China were believed to spread mostly by international travel. Michael Mulvey, head of antimicrobial resistance at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was among the first to realize that seafood could also be a vector. In 2015, Mulvey’s lab secured funding for a study that enabled him and his colleagues to run a test for carbapenem-resistant bacteria on 1,328 samples of seafood collected from Canadian retail outlets from 2011 to 2015. Eight, or 0.6 percent, tested positive; all came from Southeast Asia. The findings meant that some of the planet’s most difficult-to-treat bacteria could be lingering in people’s refrigerators or on their kitchen countertops. “We are trying to make the case right now that it’s there, it’s in our seafood,” Mulvey says.

Since the early 1990s, the average amount of shrimp Americans eat annually has doubled, turning what was once a specialty dish into the country’s single most popular seafood. As recently as the 1980s, most of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. was raised domestically, primarily off the Gulf Coast. From 1990 to 2006, shrimp import volumes doubled. They’ve since leveled out at roughly 1.3 billion pounds annually, and today about 90 percent of the shrimp eaten in America comes from abroad. China’s share of imports touched an 11-year high in 2003 at 16 percent of the market. (It’s now 5.6 percent.) In 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a 112 percent tariff on Chinese shrimp, effective 2005—a response to complaints of domestic producers that insisted Chinese suppliers were selling seafood below market prices. In 2007 came the import alert.

Malaysia jumped in to pick up the slack. In 2004 imports of Malaysian shrimp rose tenfold, according to U.S. government figures. They remained elevated for a decade, peaking at about 5 percent of the market in 2008 and 2011.

There’s reason to doubt that all that Malaysian shrimp is Malaysian. Ronnie Tan, vice president of Blue Archipelago, Malaysia’s largest seafood producer, says that depending on the year either three or four shrimp producers—including his own company—operate in the country. Malaysia produced about 32,000 tons of shrimp in 2015, he says; about 18,000 tons were consumed domestically, and about 12,000 tons went to Singapore. That would leave little legitimate Malaysian shrimp to go to the rest of the world. Yet according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, imports from Malaysia during the past decade have exceeded 20,000 tons a year on average.

It’s a mystery that may be explained, at least partially, by examining the business practices of Jun Yang, a Chinese-born entrepreneur based in Texas. Homeland Security Investigations, a part of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, first knew him as a honey broker. The agency arrested him in 2012 (then unarrested him so that he could cooperate with the investigation, then arrested him again) and charged him with making false claims about the honey he was selling. It was harvested in China but was passed through Malaysia, where it acquired Malaysian certificates of origin. This illegal transshipping, as the maneuver is called, allowed him to avoid paying almost $38 million in antidumping duties. The investigators untangled a network of shell companies that seemed designed solely to deceive U.S. regulators. In November 2013, Yang was convicted and sentenced to three years in federal prison.

A worker on the Datianlang farm sets out to feed the fish.

Photographer: Forbes Conrad for Bloomberg Businessweek

The investigators also determined that Yang’s main business wasn’t honey—it was seafood. His company brokered shrimp for a Houston company called American Fisheries. At the time of Yang’s first arrest, some of the shipments were still in cold-storage facilities. The feds required him, as part of his cooperation, to send samples to a laboratory for analysis. Five shipments tested positive for nitrofurans, a class of antibiotics banned in the U.S. Those tainted shrimp were eventually destroyed. All the tainted shipments had been labeled as products of Malaysia.

Despite Yang’s cooperation with the government in the shrimp investigation, his information wasn’t used to make a case. But American Fisheries itself may have provided a way to track the apparent transshipping scheme. In May 2013, American Fisheries sued Yang, saying it had received only $6.1 million of the $12.1 million Yang owed it for 74 shipments of shrimp, weighing as much as 28,000 kilograms (62,000 pounds) each, from June 2011 to January 2012. That case, still pending in Texas, as well as Yang’s countersuit against American Fisheries, has uncovered a trove of documents that detail how a Shanghai-based company hatched a plan to get its Chinese-farmed shrimp into America.

In 2005, about nine months after the U.S. antidumping tariffs on Chinese shrimp went into effect, a group of seafood executives gathered in a Shanghai conference room. Many knew one another from when they’d all worked for Shanghai Fisheries, a large company overseen by the government. The executives agreed to create a venture that would focus primarily on exporting shrimp to the U.S., despite the new tariff. They would finance and control the company from China, but it would be incorporated in Texas. That was the beginning of American Fisheries.

Some of the same executives also controlled a Shanghai Fisheries subsidiary called Guangzhou Lingshan, a seafood packing plant in the Pearl River Delta, and the plant was buying shrimp. By 2006 the company had purchased 3,000 tons of it from farmers around the town of Da’ao, according to local newspaper reports.

Guangzhou Lingshan built a lab inside the complex to test the quality of its shrimp, and the facility was considered one of the best in the region. Even so, former executives with the company say shrimp tainted with antibiotic traces made it into the company’s stock. “You know what China was like,” says Lv Wei, who worked for Guangzhou Lingshan in the trade department for nine years before leaving in 2013. Almost two-thirds of the shrimp that went through the packing facility ended up with American Fisheries, she says. “They all went through Malaysia.” Shanghai Fisheries declined to comment on Guangzhou Lingshan.

No paperwork connected to those 2011 and 2012 shipments of Malaysian-labeled shrimp indicated they might have originated in China. The certificates of origin were signed by officials at the Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce. On a day in August, a man named Mohd Noordin Ismail sits at a desk in the reception room of the chamber’s offices in the seaside district of George Town. Bespectacled and wearing chunky gold rings on his fingers, Mohd Noordin has a foot-high stack of documents teetering in front of him. He says he’s worked at the chamber of commerce for 40 years, and his duties include signing certificates of origin for products produced in Malaysia and then exported. The certification process, as he describes it, is built on trust. He’s presented with documents provided by exporters, and he rubber-stamps the certificates under the assumption that the documents are genuine and correct. He doesn’t verify their authenticity.

“We cannot trace if the shrimp is coming from Thailand or from China or from other countries,” Mohd Noordin says. “We cannot trace.”

The documents that bear his signature indicate the shrimp sent to American Fisheries was farmed at two Malaysian aquaculture facilities, Chai Kee Aquatic and Aiman Aquatic. But none of the addresses listed on those forms correspond to an aquaculture facility or to a place where shrimp could have been raised. On two separate import documents, the same address is listed as the harvesting site for both Chai Kee and Aiman Aquatic. That address corresponds to a long block of gated residential compounds. No ponds are visible on any of the properties. A woman who answers the door at one of the houses says her son was in the seafood business, but she says no aquaculture facilities could be found on her property or elsewhere in the neighborhood. Another address listed on the documents for Chai Kee doesn’t appear on Google Maps, and neither the local police nor officials at the post office can locate the street named on the forms.

Antibiotic medicines at a veterinary pharmacy in Jiangmen.

Photographer: Forbes Conrad for Bloomberg Businessweek

Mohd Noordin says it’s possible the certificates of origin and his signature could have been forgeries and that the forms never passed his desk. Malaysia’s shrimp industry is relatively small, but he says he’d never heard of either Chai Kee or Aiman. Since 2008, when the European Union temporarily banned imports from the country after several shipments tested positive for antibiotic residues and heavy metal content, only a few companies legitimately export shrimp to America, according to Mohd Noordin and others in the industry. Tan of Blue Archipelago says that while he has no direct evidence of transshipping activities, it’s commonly speculated by seafood producers in Malaysia that Chinese producers use Malaysian companies—both legitimate producers and shell companies that exist only on paper—to sneak their shrimp into the U.S.

The American Fisheries court documents suggest the company and its various distributors carefully monitored the status of the shrimp shipments it brought into the U.S. and communicated via e-mail and telephone. Once the shrimp was on a ship bound for America, ownership of the shipment was transferred to a U.S.-registered company called YZ Marine. On paper, the company doesn’t seem connected to American Fisheries and its executives in Shanghai. But the court documents show that Feng Shao, president of American Fisheries, had access to YZ Marine’s bank account and wrote a number of checks on it.

Lawyers for American Fisheries didn’t respond to interview requests for this story, but in court documents related to the Yang suit they’ve denied the company illegally transshipped goods via Malaysia. They’ve acknowledged, however, that the company was fully financed and staffed via China and that its employees worked in Texas on three-month rotations because they lacked long-term U.S. work visas. Court records also show that when one shipment of Malaysian-labeled shrimp arrived in the U.S. at a lighter weight than anticipated, a member of the American Fisheries staff checked with Guangzhou Lingshan—the facility in the Pearl River Delta—to ask if there had been a packing mistake.

The groups lobbying hardest for intensified scrutiny of imported shrimp and fish are, unsurprisingly, the American producers of seafood. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, a trade organization of U.S. shrimp producers, says the U.S. market is awash in fraudulently labeled and unsafe seafood. “What we have learned is that there are well-developed channels for getting massive amounts of food and other consumer goods into this market while evading U.S. laws,” says John Williams, the organization’s executive director.

Critics of increased inspection say it would cause gridlock at U.S. ports. “Think of all the trucks going by on an interstate, and you have a cop pulling people over for speeding,” says Peter Quinter, a customs and international trade lawyer in Miami. “You can’t pull everyone over. … Hiring more FDA officers is not the answer; it’s like shutting down the highway.”

Arguments of that nature didn’t stop the U.S. catfish industry from successfully pushing for more oversight on imports, a move that could provide a model for shrimp companies. For years the catfish industry argued that the FDA’s testing protocol, which analyzes only 1 percent to 2 percent of incoming seafood, didn’t adequately protect consumers. With the help of allies in Congress, catfish farmers got the USDA to take over import inspections from the FDA. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which will inspect all catfish imports by September 2017, began conducting preliminary, noncomprehensive inspections this spring, and proponents are thrilled by a slew of recent enforcement actions.

Aquaculture farms in Datianlang.

Photographer: Forbes Conrad for Bloomberg Businessweek

In April the FDA issued an import alert that said its district offices could detain and test all imports of shrimp and prawns from Peninsular Malaysia, a region that includes Penang. Malaysia’s Ministry of Health responded by announcing that it would tighten controls at processing plants and assume the authority to issue certificates of origin from chambers of commerce. The U.S. in the past year has started at least two investigations involving Chinese shrimp producers suspected of shipping their seafood through Malaysia, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who is familiar with the investigations. Both probes are ongoing.

The FDA alert has virtually halted Malaysian shrimp imports. But that doesn’t mean tainted Chinese shrimp aren’t making it into the U.S. Industry and trade experts say many companies transship Chinese shrimp by following the American Fisheries model, each of them creating disposable import companies that can simply fold, or reincorporate under another name, at the first sign of regulatory scrutiny. Over the years, when Malaysian shrimp exporters were added to the FDA’s “red list”—meaning their shipments would have to be stopped at U.S. ports—the companies didn’t try to clear their names, as companies from other countries did, says Nathan Rickard, an attorney specializing in international trade whose clients include the Southern Shrimp Alliance. They just incorporated new entities with new names to do the same work.

It appears now that dirty shrimp is being routed through different countries. One that might be taking Malaysia’s place as an international transshipping hub is Ecuador, domestic shrimp producers say.

“The import alert was a huge step forward to prevent contaminated shrimp from getting to U.S. consumers, but we have also seen significant shifts in trade patterns indicating new routes and methods for getting bad shrimp into the U.S. market,” says Williams, of the Southern Shrimp Alliance. “As long as there are distributors, retailers, and restaurants that, provided that the price is low, do not know and do not care where their shrimp is coming from, we expect to see shrimp-trade fraud.”

A recent case illustrates the domestic producers’ concerns. Ocean Rancho, a company based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has imported Malaysian shrimp. The company was formed by a man named Kai Hua Tan, an employee of a shrimp-farming company in mainland China called Zhanjiang Newpro Foods. Tan also has links to Tasty Goody Chinese Fast Food, a chain of 11 restaurants in California. In November 2014 the U.S. Department of Commerce said it had obtained documents showing that Zhanjiang Newpro had evaded tariffs using a transshipping scheme. When the company refused to answer questions about its operations during a review, the department imposed antidumping penalties. Ocean Rancho declared bankruptcy and dissolved, citing about $1.6 million in duties owed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Tan didn’t respond to voicemails left at his listed phone number, or to phone calls and e-mails to Tasty Goody.)

Around the same time, a new company, Mita Group, formed. It has the same address and phone number Ocean Rancho used on shipping documents. No one answering the phone there would speak with a reporter. Last year, Mita Group imported at least 700,000 pounds of shrimp—from Ecuador. 
 
—With Wenxin Fan and Pooi Koon Chong