Tag RAS

Total RAS salmon production worldwide is less than half of 1 percent of total production. Many of the investors flocking to the sector now are new to fish farming, and confident in its potential. 

This year’s Aquaculture America in San Antonio, Texas, provided significant learning and networking opportunities. It successfully brought together 14 U.S. aquaculture organizations and more than 1,600 participants from Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. 

Jurassic Salmon, establecida en Polonia hace apenas dos años, utiliza aguas salinas geotérmicas de 150 millones de años de antigüedad de la época del "Bajo Jura." Armada con certificaciones, la compañía está navegando una etapa complicada del crecimiento. 

Jurassic Salmon, established in Poland just two years ago, is using 150-million-year-old geothermal saline waters from the “Lower Jura” era. Armed with certifications, the company is navigating an awkward growth stage. 

The operators of Hudson Valley Fish Farm see their inland locale as a pilot to prove that land-based fish farming, located in close proximity to major metropolitan markets, can be successful. 

A number of large salmon farming companies are now investing significantly to increase land-based, water recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in northern Europe and North America, and there is likely a need for more trained farm personnel to run and manage these and other close-containment aquaculture facilities. 

Past and ongoing studies at the UWSP Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (UWSP-NADF) have shown that walleye and hybrid walleye can be successfully raised indoors using early advanced spawning, incubation and rearing techniques. Marketing studies indicate good aquaculture potential and high demand. 

By raising shrimp in a closed building, producers can increase biosecurity, produce shrimp more consistently, grow shrimp year-round and locate production centers near markets. Chefs and consumers were very accepting of whole fresh shrimp, offered at a farmers market, that was farmed indoors in Kentucky. 

Biological filters are essential parts of recirculating aquaculture systems that transform toxic fish compounds such as ammonium and nitrite into less-harmful nitrate. The authors tested the convenience and efficiency of three methods for the initial inoculation of aerobic biofilters. 

The production period for largemouth bass in ponds hampers the economic feasibility of pond culture in the United States. A study demonstrated that bass fingerlings could be raised at high densities in a semi-closed recirculating system without serious mortality, size variability or growth retardation. 

Controlling total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN) concentrations is the primary concern when sizing a biofilter for use in a recirculating aquaculture system. Sizing decisions are best based on previous experience with a given biofilter media in a specific biofilter configuration. 

The water quality in recirculating aquaculture systems is generally a function of the tank size, biomass, feed inputs and waste treatment efficiency. Adequate biofiltration can control the build-up of ammonia-nitrogen and nitrate-nitrogen in the systems. 

Dozens of land-based, closed-containment salmonid RAS systems are coming on line. New projects are bringing new principles into the salmon industry. Industry expansion hinges upon the development of pollution-mitigating technologies to reduce nutrients in effluents. 

The benefits realized by recirculating aquaculture systems – including enhanced fish growth, product quality and survival, as well as reduced treatment costs – have made the RAS approach an important production trend. 

Geotextile bags used in combination with polymer flocculant aid chemicals can provide effective primary treatment of recirculating aquaculture system effluent. Much of the suspended solids that carry the majority of the organic load within the effluent can be captured by these systems.