Tag land-based aquaculture

RAS is an emerging sector with two producers leading the U.S. pack, responding to high demand for Atlantic salmon and for local, low-impact food. 

A rash of large-scale, land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are planting their flags on U.S. soil, even though it will take several years and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment before they produce their first sellable fish. 

Arab States have substantial natural resources to increase aquaculture production. Several types of systems are readily adaptable and can be implemented relatively quickly.  

A unique joint venture is bringing a land-based recirculating aquaculture system to a farming community near Lake Erie. It’s a wastewater treatment program that aims to provide a sustainable food source for the local community.  

At the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum in New York, “all roads lead to salmon.” Buoyed by high prices and soaring demand, the sector is an example worth following. But it’s not without its challenges. 

Land-based aquaculture, perhaps the ultimate environmental risk-mitigation tool, was the talk of the town at the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum. Once scoffed at for high capital and energy requirements, RAS now has a crowded bandwagon. 

In a wide-ranging interview, the Marine Conservation Society’s aquaculture program manager applauds innovation, decries food waste and gives a look inside the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Standards Oversight Committee. She touches upon land-based fish farming, aquafeed production and retailers’ huge responsibilities. 

Bivalve shellfish culture is a low-impact form of protein production, and in many cases is a net-positive for water quality. So why move it indoors? Smit & Smit in the Netherlands has a good argument for doing so. 

Land-based cultivation of macroalgae can minimize impacts on wild macroalgae stocks while reducing harvest costs and controlling quality. Integration of macroalgae with land-based fish culture systems could reduce capital and operating costs. 

Dozens of land-based, closed-containment salmonid RAS systems are coming on line. New projects are bringing new principles into the salmon industry. Industry expansion hinges upon the development of pollution-mitigating technologies to reduce nutrients in effluents.