The Fish Rich(R) Team Is Headed to LaCrosse, WI, Feb 21-23 for the MOSES Organic Farming Conference

The Fish Rich Organic Fertilizer team will be exhibiting at the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Organic Farming Conference in Wisconsin, Feb 21-23.

MOSES is a 501(c)3 education-outreach organization working to promote sustainable and organic agriculture. MOSES serves farmers striving to produce high-quality, healthful food using organic and sustainable techniques. These farmers produce more than just food; they support thriving ecosystems and vibrant rural communities. MOSES is best known for organizing the largest organic farming conference in the country, the Organic Farming Conference. From its humble beginning with 90 attendees twenty years ago, our most recent conference in February attracted over 2,600 farmers, advocates, educators, and community members.

Link to the MOSES Conference Exhibitors Page

Fish Rich(R) Featured on Home Talk USA with Michael King, the Cajun Contractor

Bell Aquaculture's Norman McCowan and Regina Dunlavy interviewed on Home Talk Radio Saturday, February 16th, about Fish Rich(R) Organic Fertilizer.

Home Talk(TM) is a live, call-in program that gives listeners access to the top home improvement professionals in the manufacturing, product and service industry today. Bell's Fish Rich Organic team was invited to interview after exhibiting this past May at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.

Link to listen:

Interview with Michael King - Part One

Interview with Michael King - Part Two

Link to Home Talk USA with Michael King, the Cajun Contractor

Coverage Overview: Industry of the Year Award

Bell Aquaculture, the nation’s largest yellow perch (Perca flavescens) farm and pioneer in sustainable fish farming operations, was awarded ‘Industry of the Year’ recognition by the Jay County Chamber of Commerce at its Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet held January 26. Here's an overview of coverage:

 

SeafoodNews.com - "Indiana-based yellow perch farming company Bell Aquaculture wins 'Industry of the Year' award" - Link (subscription required):
http://www.seafoodnews.com/fComp.aspx?tagId=5073

FIS USA - "IN BRIEF - Bell Aquaculture named ‘Industry of the year’ by Jay County Chamber of Commerce" Link: http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/search_brief.asp?l=e&id=58810&ndb=1

MONEY (Canada): "Bell Aquaculture Named ‘Industry of the Year’ By Jay County Chamber of Commerce" Link: http://money.ca/money/2013/02/12/bell-aquaculture-named-industry-of-the-year-by-jay-county-chamber-of-commerce/

AAAS 2013 Annual Meeting News: 'Can Fish Farms Feed the World?'

 A photo of Bell Aquaculture's use of land-based/closed-containment/water recirculation systems is the featured visual in the article, 'Can Fish Farms Feed the World?'. Quoting the February 18th posting:

"There’s nothing fishy about it: the world’s population has reached 7 billion and is projected to increase to 9 billion by 2050. The global food supply needs to expand dramatically.

Aquaculture—an industry that has experienced dynamic growth—could make a major contribution to the world’s protein needs, researchers said at the AAAS [American Association for the Advancement of Science] Annual Meeting. They were also candid about challenges ahead; namely, ensuring that fish-farming is sustainable as it is scaled up...

...At the Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Steven Summerfelt and colleagues focus on increasing farmed fish production in systems that minimize water use. They have developed land-based, closed-containment systems that use water recirculation technologies. “This allows us to produce fish using a fraction of the water typically required on industrial fish farms,” he said.

But that’s not the only benefit. 'Our systems also allow us to capture the nutrients in the waste of the fish, for re-use, and they serve as effective barriers for fish pathogens.' The absence of pathogens eliminates the need for vaccination and improves fish welfare, Summerfelt said."

Link to the full article

BCBR: 'Locals petition to repeal med-device tax'

Quoting from the February 14th article: 

"People at local medical-device manufacturers have signed a national petition to repeal a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices that went into effect Jan. 1.

Nearly 130 Colorado signers - including people at Covidien plc's offices in Boulder and Sound Surgical Technologies LLC in Louisville - have put their names on the "No 2.3 percent. Kill the med device tax!" petition at http://www.no2point3.com."

Link to the BCBR's full article

Indiana Ag News Headlines: Bell Aquaculture Named 'Industry of the Year'

 Quoting from the Feb 14th posting:

"Bell Aquaculture, the nation's largest yellow perch (Perca flavescens) farm and pioneer in sustainable fish farming operations, was awarded 'Industry of the Year' recognition by the Jay County Chamber of Commerce at its Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet. The announcement is made by Norman McCowan, president of Bell Aquaculture, who accepted the award on behalf of the Bell Aquaculture team from Jay County Development Corporation's Executive Director Bill Bradley."

Link to Indiana Ag Connection

Bell Aquaculture Named 'Industry of the Year' By Jay County Chamber of Commerce at Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet

 Quoting from the February 12th Release:

"Bell Aquaculture, the nation's largest yellow perch (Perca flavescens) farm and pioneer in sustainable fish farming operations, received 'Industry of the Year' recognition at the Jay County Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet held January 26.

The announcement is made by Norman McCowan, president of Bell Aquaculture, who accepted the award on behalf of the Bell Aquaculture team from Jay County Development Corporationís Executive Director Bill Bradley.

Mr. Bradley cited Bell as ìan international pacesetter in the field of aquaculture, noting that Bell's 'environmentally green industry' recently added a new product this year, organic fertilizer made from the fish processing operation.

'I was very surprised and both thrilled and humbled that Bell Aquaculture was chosen for this special honor. On behalf of our entire company, I thank the Jay County Chamber for singling out Bell Aquaculture and our industry as a whole with this much appreciated public recognition,' McCowan said."

Link to the PR Newswire

Link to the PitchEngine Social Media Release

The PescoVegetarian Times & Green Profit's Buzz!: Fish Rich Organic Fertilizer at New England Grows

Quoting from the February 8th posting, Plant Fish in Your Garden:

"As a dedicated pescovegetarian, I manage to find seafood wherever I go—even at a garden show!

Bell Aquaculture is an Indiana-based company that farms, fillets, and sells yellow perch. They use the leftovers from processing the fish to produce an organic liquid plant fertilizer, which they market as 'Fish Rich Fertilizer' and sell nationally.

Since I like using fish-based fertilizer, I stopped to take a look at Fish Rich while trolling the aisles at New England Grows, the annual horticultural and green industry trade show, on February 7."

Link to PescoVegetarian Times

Also reporting from New England Grows:

Quoting from the February 14th posting:

"Consistency is the key for another organic fertilizer, this being Fish Rich, a 2-2-2 liquid fertilizer. Bell Aquaculture is the largest producer of sustainably grown yellow perch and supply restaurants throughout the Midwest (maybe farther!) with their perch fillets. What to do with all that waste? Turn it into fertilizer, and they do it immediately before the fish remnants start to break down. And there’s no fishy smell—I checked! www.bellaquaculture.com" 

Link to Green Profit's Buzz! (scroll down to the photo of Fish Rich in the "At New England Grows" article 

University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute: Biennial Report Features Bell Aquaculture

Quoting from the 2010-12 Biennial Report:

 "'The Wisconsin Sea Grant has been instrumental in enabling us to grow yellow perch. We have the business know-how but we would not be where we are now if Wisconsin Sea Grant technology transfer had not led the way with yellow perch aquaculture techniques that pay off. Our customers come to us for a quality food that they can share with their families or that restaurants can feature to enhance their menus. Thanks to Wisconsin Sea Grant, we can deliver. Along the way, we provide jobs, contributing to a strong local economy,' Norman D. McCowan, president, Bell Aquaculture, Redkey [and Albany], Ind....

...Yellow perch are a popular consumer food fish whose numbers in the Great Lakes have fluctuated in the last 20 years, mostly downward. Great Lakes commercial fishing for the species is restricted in all the lakes except Lake Erie, and consumers who want to support Great Lakes seafood producers have diminished options. Wisconsin Sea Grant has fueled the success of the freshwater finfish aquaculture industry to fill the gap. Staff provide technical assistance on water quality and broodstock viability to private businesses...

...At the hub of it all is the patented yellow perch propagation technique of Fred Binkowski, Sea Grant's aquaculture specialist. By manipulating light and water temperature, Binkowski convinces his fish to breed out of season which enables year-round fish production...

...Then there's Bell Aquaculture of Albany, Ind., the nation's largest yellow perch producer, shipping 1 million pounds in 2011 for a potential market value of more than $12 million wholesale and $20 million retail."

Link to the pdf of the report

Link to the Wisconsin Sea Grant website

Bob Tanem's 'In The Garden' Radio Show Features Fish Rich® Organic Fertilizer

Bell Aquaculture President Norman McCowan and Fertilizer Sales Specialist Regina Dunlavy interviewed on Bob Tanem's 'In The Garden' radio show, February 3, on KSFO-AM 560, San Francisco.

Bob Tanem is on KSFO 560 am every Sunday Morning from 8-11 am (Pacific). Bob has written several Gardening books that are available through his website: Annuals for Northern California, Perennials for Northern California, Trees and Shrubs for Northern California, Gardening Month by Month in Northern California, and Deer Resistant Planting - a Guide list for choosing plants for your garden that are deer 'resistant.' There is also a section on Gardening articles that Bob has written for a subscription publication, Garden Previews. For more information visit: http://www.bobtanem.com

Link to the 'In the Garden' podcast archive (the Fish Rich interview was on Feb 3, 2013)

Video Highlights: 2013 BioScience Day at the Colorado Capitol

Video recaps from the CBSA's 2013 BioScience Day at the Capitol, held January 30th:

Colorado State Representative and Speaker of the House Mark Ferrandino - District 2

http://youtu.be/qtxqghSbsm8

Colorado State Representative Cheri Gerou - District 25
http://youtu.be/pw56oAumDTw

Mark Leahey - Pres/CEO Medical Device Manufacturers Association
  
http://youtu.be/_rg607vjcUE

Jim Kasic, President and CEO, Sophono
  
http://youtu.be/9u0aAyZKRdU

Link to the related Business Wire release