SURVEY OF AQUAPONICS IN EUROPE

The EU Aquaponics Hub is a four year COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) networking action funded by the European Commission that unites a heterogenous group of scientists, researchers and SMEs from across the EU and around the globe to better understand the state of knowledge in aquaponics and to facilitate innovation and education in this field of sustainable fish and vegetal food production. The project has been divided into four work groups (WG) which focus on reviewing current knowledge (WG1), system innovations (WG2), developing a research agenda with industry (WG3) and setting up a framework for knowledge exchange in aquaponics (WG4).

A survey was developed by WG1 based on an available survey by Love et al. (2014). The main goal was to find out more about activities within the COST-FA1305 group. We shortened the original questionnaire to 25 questions (Love et al. used 50), and categorized them slightly differently, concentrating on scientific research and production, and less on hobbyists or enthusiasts. The five main sections of the survey were demographics (6 questions), facilities (8 questions), fish and crops (11 questions), funding (3 questions) and priorities (2 questions). The questions were loaded onto the SurveyMonkey web application in December 2014 and invitations were sent to 50 members.

We obtained 37 replies (a 75% reply rate). More than 50% of the people surveyed worked at a University, 75% were male, 66% had a PhD, and 90% were over 30 years old. Regarding facilities, 73% of the people started their aquaponics unit after 2010, and 80% of those were self-designed (only one person had used a kit).

Regarding production, most partners are producing less than 50 kg of fish or 100 kg of plants, but almost all (96%) use pelleted fish feed. Most people are using rafts and media to house their plants. The main type of fish used is tilapia, followed by catfish, ornamental fish and trout. In terms of plants, most members cultivated tomato, basil, salad greens and herbs.

Regarding funding, most (70%) partners receive subsidies from government grants and only a few (14%) use aquaponics as their primary production. Approximately 60% of partners have invested less than 5000 € in their system, although one partner has invested more than 500.000 €. In terms of sales, 80% do not sell their products while one partner sells more than 100.000 €.

Some final questions were related to why members were using aquaponics. Most people stated that their main priority with aquaponics is sustainability (1 person did aquaponics for faith based reasons), and very few (1 partner each) mentioned the importance of food, health, or community. In terms of knowledge in different fields, more members expressed a lack of experience in plant and fish diseases.