Climate change poses a severe threat to food production, making it imperative to find sustainable methods that complement natural, regenerative, soil based farming. One such method is aquaponics, which grows fish and vegetables together using a water substrate with no added minerals. The fish poop supplies all that the plants need to grow. It’s been hard for dreamers and doers to find that sweet spot that balances several ecosystems at the same time: the fish in the pond, the food in the hydroponics beds, and both those parts together.

Researchers from a desert country, where food growing is limited due to lack of water, offer a new proof of concept for a new closed loop system called aquaponics that produces more fish and vegetables while using less energy than conventional systems.

Their findings were published in the journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling.

Prof. Amit Gross, at Ben-Gurion University has been working with his students and collaborators for the last decade on aquaponic systems. His system uses brackish, or salty water and combines farming with growing fish farms.

As we mentioned above, aquaponic systems grow fish while using the fish waste to grow vegetables hydroponically. Hydroponics was invented by NASA decades ago and later perfected by stealth cannabis growers in Canada who could run grow-ops between walls in their apartment throughout the winter. Now that cannabis is legal in Canada and the US and hydroponics a great method for controlled growing of high value crops, advances are needed to make it even more sustainable.

That’s where this new research steps in: coupled aquaponics are closed loop systems that recycle much of the fish effluent rather than reusing it outside of the aquaponic system. Where typically the fish solid waste is disposed of, Gross managed to treat it by anaerobic digestion and recover energy and nutrients into the system to form a near zero waste unit. This is the path to resolving the ups and downs and headaches of balancing the nutrient load in the system and what the plants need as they grow.

After more than two years of testing, Gross’s system demonstrated 1.6 times higher plant areal productivity, 2.1 times lower water usage and 16% less energy consumption per kilogram of feed than conventional systems.

His calculations suggest that upscaling to about one ton of fish will allow operation of the system with no need for external energy, less than 1% water exchange, negligible waste production as well as significant carbon sequestration.

Net zero, here we come? The next grow system for the spaceship to Mars and the first Mars colony? Sustainable food that can be grown in Antarctica?

“Feeding the more than 8 billion people on the planet while reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require innovative technologies. Those that combine two functions in one are obviously preferable. Fish are a sustainable high-quality source of protein with a far smaller carbon footprint than most other sources. Combining fish growth with vegetable production and preventing waste is a win-win-win,” says Gross who worked with Ze Zhu and Uri Yogev from Ben-Gurion University and Prof. Karel Keesman from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands.

? Hydroponics, Aquaponics, and Cannabis: Growing Greener with Smart Agriculture

As the world looks for sustainable ways to grow food and medicine, modern farming methods like hydroponics, aquaponics, and even cannabis cultivation are leading a quiet revolution—especially in regions facing water scarcity, like the Middle East and North Africa.

Hydroponics uses nutrient-rich water instead of soil, saving up to 90% of water compared to traditional farming. Aquaponics adds fish into the mix, creating a closed-loop system where fish waste feeds the plants, and the plants clean the water. These systems can be set up in homes, urban rooftops, or greenhouses, making them ideal for future food security.

And yes, cannabis—the once-taboo plant—is gaining ground as a medicinal crop. Grown sustainably in hydro or aquaponic systems, cannabis can provide medical benefits without the environmental damage associated with traditional farming.

This green trifecta—hydroponics, aquaponics, cannabis—is not just a trend; it’s a glimpse into the future of ethical, sustainable agriculture.

? Learn More

Here are 5 useful links to deepen your understanding:

1. Hydroponic Farming in the Middle East

2. What is Aquaponics and Why is it Eco-Friendly?

3. Israel’s Medical Cannabis Revolution

4. Rooftop Farming in the Middle East

5. Smart Agriculture Innovations in MENA

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Washington State has become the first in the world to ban aquaculture at sea, or stationary fish nets for fish farming because they harm local salmon populations and orca whales. But in Gaza, where food is scarce, fishermen are catching dolphins to survive.

Gaza fishermen are having a tough time eking out a living under the war that started on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. The UN suggests was for helping Gaza fisherman regain their independence post-war, and in the past the Palestinian economy in Gaza including saltwater pools for farmed fish.

Online critics are alarmed at Gazans catching dolphins and sharks for dinner. But with little fresh protein available would this stop you from eating an endangered creature?

Sharks have been spotted in Middle East markets, and despite the fact that sharks may cause cancer by eating them, fin soup is considered a delicacy. Sharks have been seen in the market in Dubai, for instance.

Before you wag your finger over eating dolphins in Taiji, Japan the fishermen’s union hunts, capture, and slaughter different types of dolphins. They claim it’s tradition. This is the heart of the captive dolphin trade. The slaughtered dolphin meat is sold in local supermarkets, but is not very popular.

The Japanese government sanctions it and sends their Coast Guard and even their Navy to escort and protect these hunters. At least 1,800 dolphins were killed last year in Japan for meat according to the Dolphin Project.

In the Faröe Islands owned by Denmark, the locals partake in hunting and terrorize dolphins and whales, driving them onto the beaches where men, women, and children join in the slaughter. According to Sea Shepherd Global this past September 7th, over 150 white-sided dolphins were killed in a grindadrap (whale and dolphin hunt) in the Faroe Islands bay of Skalafjord.

The slaughter documented by Sea Shepherd crew on the ground, has drawn significant criticism due to the targeting of white-sided dolphins, a species that is not traditionally hunted in the Faroes and has seen declining support for such hunts in recent years. Historically the locals did hunt dolphins in small numbers on human powered boats. Now with motor boats the dolphins don’t stand a chance.

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Aquaculture has a bad environmental rap. Possible negative impacts associated with fish farms include eutrophication or the loss of oxygen in water, greenhouse gas emissions, land occupation, excess energy demand, and biotic depletion stemming from feeding wild fish to farmed fish.

But Blue Frontiers, a recent report co-produced by the WorldFish Center and Conservation International, reveals that not all fish farms are equally destructive and that some farms can even have a positive environmental impact.

The report honed in on Asia in particular, since that continent is responsible for 90% of the world’s farmed fish stocks, though most of the major producers were evaluated.

Asian aquaculture has the worst environmental record not only because of the sheer volume of its production, which increases its impact, but because the species favored there, Carp, exacts one of the largest tolls.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the relationship between species and the environment:

• Inland pond culture and carp farming have the highest absolute impact;
• Shrimp, prawns and other carnivorous species stand out as especially biophysically demanding;
• Salmonids are demanding as a result of the use of fishmeal for feeding;
• Bivalves and seaweeds place low demands on the environment and actually reduce eutrophication

Compared to farming livestock, a global warming nightmare given the vast quantities of land and grain required to feed them and highly polluting methane pumped into the atmosphere, fish farming is fairly benign.

Aquaculture products contribute less per unit weight to global emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus than pork and beef and convert a higher percentage of the food they eat into consumable protein.

The post Fish Farming Isn’t So Evil After All appeared first on Green Prophet.