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