Aquaculture America 2023

February 23 - 26, 2023

New Orleans, Louisiana USA

PRODUCTION OF FISH PROTEIN FROM CONTINUOUS RECYCLING OF NUTRIENT-RICH WATER: AQUAPONICS

Lindee Mason*, Aparna Biswas, Sinthia Mumu, Eaint Honey Aung Win, Michelle Selo-Ojeme, Soufanieh Pierre, and Ahmed Mustafa

 

 Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University Fort Wayne

 Fort Wayne, IN 46805

 lindee.mason@pfw.edu

 



 For many different reasons, some parts of the world are experiencing a decline in resources, one being food. While increasing human population is still an issue, the resources from which we get our food are being depleted. Agriculture, alone, cannot meet the demands that our current population needs. Both plant and animal agriculture require copious amounts of land for the yield to be worthwhile to the farmer and to the food sector. As the human population continues to increase the amount of arable land for farming decreases, the amount of space needed to raise animals also decreases. While many forms of aquaculture also require a large amount of space to produce a high yield of product, there is one variety that may provide a solution to Earth’s space dilemma- Aquaponics .  Aquaponics combines hydroponic and aquaculture practices so plant and animal products can be produced at the same time and within the same space. When you have a farm that grows both animals and plants, they each need their own space, this is not the case with aquaponics. If properly maintained, aquaponics systems use less water than other agricultural methods and exposes the environment to fewer pollutants. The objective of this experiment is to determine how much product a laboratory scale aquaponics system can produce. This experiment will gather weight and length data of Nile tilapia and the yield of various herbs from various projects that have utilized the aquaponic system at Purdue University Fort Wayne.