CAN AQUAPONICS HELP RESTORE THE UNITED STATES AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY

Over the past 15 or so years a number of authors and aquaculture leaders have noted the "decline" of the United States aquaculture industry.  Reasons cited for this include:

• Easy access to abundant high quality and low cost imported product
• The United States produces only 10% of the seafood it eats
• US Catfish farming reached peak production in 2002
• US Trout production has flattened.
• US Net pen farming of salmon may have also peaked.
• "Highest and Best Use" requirements and environmental regulations and high costs make it difficult to site new traditional farms.
• Climate Change.
• Food safety issues
• An aging workforce echoing what is seen in other agricultural sectors
• A Millennial preference for urban employment
• The scale back or elimination of university programs in aquaculture make it difficult to find qualified employees skilled in in biosecurity, fish culture and fish hatcheries.
• Cutbacks in extension programs
• Lack of innovation in system designs
• Lack of young farmers

Recently however, there is increasing evidence that the comparatively young discipline of aquaponics may be helping to reverse many of the challenges mentioned above. These RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems) based farms where often-edible plant production is used as the polishing stage for the removal of nitrate are growing rapidly in popularity particularly in urban areas. An outgrowth of the hyper-local urban healthy food movement and concerns over the great recession, the current efforts in aquaponics have expanded in the "early adopter" market since approximately 2008. More recently in response to growing public demand for local healthy food and the increasing sophistication and flexibility of these systems, the discipline has "jumped the chasm" and is now providing a variety of solutions for urban and rural needs. They are being applied as excellent methods of teaching STEAM education in elementary and high schools. Frequently in urban agriculture friendly cities, more and more colleges and universities are offering accredited courses in aquaponics thus training new farmers. They are in thousands of backyards across the nation. In addition and in part thanks to the advent of new business models provided by the AgTech (Agriculture Technology) enterprise sector, multi-million dollar investments in aquaponic businesses are now being seen. As recently reported from Wisconsin, the result of this is a noticeable increase in the number of artisanal and commercial aquaculture farms in this state. Most of these new farms are using aquaponics as the method of food production and owned by young people. Overall, this suggests that many of the stated concerns are in part, being addressed through the growth of aquaponics.

Through the lens of a SWAT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, this presentation will explore the possibility that the growing aquaponic sector of aquaculture may be helping to restore the US aquaculture industry.