permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Recirculating Water Systems Used for Fish Production
Date:   Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:37:49 -0400
From:   ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To:       ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
To:     ARS News subscriber <lflj@bellsouth.net>



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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
--View this report online, plus photos and related stories, at 
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*Read the magazine story 
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct10/water1010.htm> to find out more*

Photo: Two researchers examine a tank of trout. Link to photo information
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/oct10/d1957-1.htm>
ARS geneticist Tim Leeds (left) and ARS research leader Caird Rexroad III 
have developed a way to raise trout in a
recirculated-water system. /Click the image for more information about it./

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See our information kit <http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/aqua/index.htm>to find 
out more.
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For further reading

    * Better control of reproduction in trout and salmon may be in 
aquaculture's future
      <http://ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100721.htm>
    * Futuristic seafood: Raising delicious cobia and pompano-inland! 
<http://ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090209.htm>
    * Franklin fish lab opens with a splash 
<http://ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/080527.htm>


    Recirculating Water Systems Used for Fish Production

By Sharon Durham </is/contacts.htm#Sharon>
October 20, 2010

U.S. Department of Agriculture <http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome> 
(USDA) scientists in West Virginia and
Maine are working closely with a collaborator to save water as part of an 
effort to develop recirculating water systems
for cool- and cold-water fish production.

Scientists with USDA's Agricultural Research Service 
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/Main.htm> (ARS) at the National
Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture 
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=17628> (NCCCWA) in Leetown,
W.Va., and the National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=19-15-10-00> (NCWMAC) in 
Franklin, Maine, partnered with Steven
Summerfelt of the Conservation Fund <http://www.conservationfund.org/>'s 
Freshwater Institute
<http://www.freshwaterinstitute.org/> in Shepherdstown, W.V., to discover the 
best ways to produce fish that live in
cool and cold water in a closed system.

ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency. This research 
supports the USDA priority of promoting
international food security.

The recirculating system Summerfelt developed doesn't just move water around. 
It uses as little as 4 percent new water
each day, which means that a complete water exchange only takes place every 
25 days. According to Summerfelt, this
miserly use of water—an environmental plus—also allows recirculating fish 
farm systems to be located in many places
where traditional aquaculture wouldn't work.

William Wolters 
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=34626>, director of 
NCWMAC, found that the
systems developed for his facility's particular needs are working well. 
Because Franklin has limited groundwater
resources, a system that reuses water was crucial. The recirculating systems 
have allowed the researchers to raise their
fish efficiently with a limited amount of water.

In Leetown, W.V., scientists led by Caird Rexroad III 
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=38205>
at the NCCCWA are working with trout, a fish that needs especially pristine 
water in order to live and thrive. Twenty
years ago, it was believed that trout couldn't thrive in a water 
recirculating system. Particularly sensitive to water
quality, they will not eat enough feed to grow if conditions aren't right.

The recirculating systems developed for the cool and cold aquaculture fish 
have several advantages over current systems,
according to Summerfelt. Because they require far less water and capture the 
wastes, a fish farm that recirculates its
water can be located far from large water bodies and near consumers. This 
gets fresh fish to market faster and with less
transportation costs.

Read more <http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct10/water1010.htm> about 
this research in the October 2010 issue of
/Agricultural Research/ magazine.

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