EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A MARINE AQUAPONIC SYSTEM PRODUCING RED DRUM Sciaenops ocellatus AND TWO SPECIES OF SALTWATER VEGETABLES  

Suzanne Boxman*, Kevan Main, Michael Nystrom, Sarina Ergas, Maya Trotz
 
University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue
 Tampa, FL 33620
 boxmans@mail.usf.edu

The desire to develop more sustainable and economically viable land-based aquaculture systems has led to increased research on incorporating plants into recirculating systems. Current aquaponics research has largely focused on freshwater fish and plant species. Less research is available on production of marine fish in aquaponic systems, due to limited land-based production of marine fish species and the selection of appropriate edible plant species that grow in saltwater.

A full-scale marine aquaponic system (Figure 1) was constructed during the summer of 2014 at Mote Aquaculture Research Park located in Sarasota, FL. In September 2014, the system was stocked with red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and two species of saltwater vegetables, sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum) and saltwort (Batis maritima). Water quality, plant growth, and fish growth were monitored regularly for the first year of operation. A mass balance was completed to determine the quantity of nutrients removed through plant growth.

The marine aquaponic system successfully produced both red drum and saltwater vegetables. As the main focus of the system was to produce red drum, initially nitrate levels increased due to insufficient plant biomass. In order to reduce nitrate levels, the sand drying beds were submerged to provide additional denitrification. After one year of operation the system has produced and harvested over 366 kg of saltwater vegetables and 500 kg of red drum.