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Fish Farming

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Rik Kretzinger grew up on a Christmas tree farm and spent his college years studying horticulture, but he found it too difficult to make a living as a small farmer so he spent most of his career working for others.  A few years ago, he began to tinker with aquaponics (fishfarming + hydroponics), sensors and the open-source microcontroller Arduino to create an automated garden that could compete with commercial farms. For the first couple of years he spent thousands of hours struggling to learn programming languages to automate his backyard mini-farm. Then while speaking at an international conference (along with Eric Maundu and Rob Torcellini, he's among the elite few experimenting with aquaponics and automation) he was introduced to APDuino(open-source firmware for aqua- and hydro-ponics). APDuino allows Kretzinger to read the sensors in his garden without any programming. Now Kretzinger's garden can send him tweets or Facebook updates if something is going wrong and Kretzinger can adjust the water flow, pH and temperature from a smartphone. Now, what started as a hobby may provide Kretzinger with the boost to compete as a small farmer. His plan is to keep it urban (or suburban). He'll use unused backyards or vacant lots to grow his produce and he's created a prototype tower (PVC structures similar to those in our videos of Rob Torcellini's greenhouse and of rooftop hydroponics on Manhattan restaurant Bell, Book & Candle).  His towers can be removed and taken to farmer's markets where customers can "pick" their strawberries or lettuce directly from the units. His set-up is also highly mobile so if a property owner decides he wants his land back, Kretzinger can move within a week. Rik Kretzinger's blog: http://rik94566.wordpress.com/category/agponics-com/ Original story: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/internet-farming-arduino-based-backyard-aquaponics/

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Aquaponic systems are a very efficient way of using the solar energy, the decomposition of feeding matter from fish farming, the natural process in which the plants transform nutrients into clean and reusable water and the technology of hydroponic systems. Regular farming is nearly impossible in condense cities where small backyards, roof tops and balconies are the only place to grow food. You can transform growing your vegetables and fish from a hobby into a self-sufficient cycle that will give you vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and many essential chemicals that the body needs. Modern living comes with a lot of technologies that are changing our life and we have to get the best of it and preserve or enrich our lives and the prolongation of our existence. So take the aquaculture or fish farming principles, the hydroponic technologies, modern living and its small spaces and some style and put them to work for you, the next time you see growing beds, fish tanks, vegetables and the sun you will be thinking about aquaponic systems. To maximize the amount of production in your Aquaponic system set up, I recommend you to build vertical growing towers, this method uses literally .25 square feet of space and yet you can grow 5, 8, 12 or more plants at the same time. One time project that will serve you for the life of the system (more than a lifetime). Follow safety measures, protect your hands and keep flammable materials away, protect your ayes when cutting and remove any extra plastic left after the cuts. enjoy the video and subscribe for more.

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish There are schools of fish, and there are schools for fishermen. The Cod Academy is a year-long program in Maine, one of the New England states in the American Northeast. The academy is new. The idea is to train current or former ocean-going fishermen to become fish farmers. Sebastian Belle is director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. That group launched the Cod Academy with the University of Maine and other partners. Mr. Belle says the academy teaches all about managing a floating farm. "One of the things we've been teaching the students is how to feed the fish and not overfeed the fish," he says. "You want to give them enough feed, and not waste any."The students practice at eight fish pens about a kilometer and a half from shore. These circular pens are fifty meters wide and covered with netting to keep out seabirds. Each one holds as many as fifty thousand cod. A partner in the academy, Great Bay Aquaculture of New Hampshire, operates this fish farm. Most of the cod will become someone's meal somewhere in the world. Bill Thompson is fifty-nine years old. He served in the Navy and worked as a commercial fisherman. He says the Cod Academy made him a believer in fish farming. "Even if the wild stocks came back to their fullest capacity, they still wouldn't be able to feed the world. So I think this is the way of the future."He and his son were among the first four students who graduated in August. Like any business, fish farming has financial risks. Program director Sebastian Belle says students have to develop a marketing and business plan before they can graduate. Graduates can receive financial assistance from the Maine Aquaculture Association to start their own cod farm. But they will be expected to raise about half the money toward any project.Mr. Belle says the Cod Academy is based on programs to retrain displaced herring and tuna fishermen in Norway and Japan. These government-sponsored programs started more than thirty years ago. He says "It's never been done before in America and we're trying to see if it's a model that has some potential. " Maine had just one commercial cod farm when the students graduated last month, but Mr. Belle hopes things will change. "It's a native fish to Maine. The growing conditions in Maine are very good for cod, and it's kind of a natural choice for us as a state." For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal. (Adapted from a radio program broadcast 15Sep2011)

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Scott Henley wanted to prove he could turn the backyard of his modest Pasadena (Los Angeles) home into a working farm. To turn his 8000-square-foot backyard into a productive farm, Henley turned to aquaponics- a combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics: "This is a very efficient way to grow things in a small space. And it also produces a protein source." He farms tilapia because they breed fast. The fish waste is broken down in the water by naturally-occurring bacteria into nitrate. The plants take up the nitrates as food and the now-cleaned water is fed back to the fish and the process begins again. The only inputs are sunlight and fish food. It's an inherently organic system because any pesticides would upset the natural balance of the small ecosystem. After less tha 2 years in operation (he started in the summer of 2012), he- through Whisper Farms- now sells enough produce to restaurants, CSAs and at the local (Altadena) farmer's market- to cover all costs and produce a small profit. His "experiment" is still not productive enough to create a salary, but he hopes that will change once he's able to sell his fish and create more of a cooperative setup with other farms (to reduce the permitting costs for selling at farmers' markets). Filmed by Johnny Sanphillippo -- more of his stories about urbanism, adaptation & resilience: http://granolashotgun.com/ Original video: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/backyard-aquaponics-as-self-sustained-farm-in-suburban-la/

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