Thanks for the advice! I definitely know what you mean with regard to their demeanor and superiority perspective. If I've learned anything from my certification classes and experience with people who used to work in aquaculture it's that multiple decade long case studies by the EPA have proven that ALMOST all mariculture efforts and net pen aquaculture programs have destroyed native pelagic species populations due to massive amount of antibiotics used and waste that collects under the pens. I'm not trashing their field of study, but am pointing out things that have to change.
I'm a bit of a futurist in the regard that over the course of my life I've seen rivers run relatively dry of trout and salmon from when I was a kid to now. I've payed close attention to the depletion of our fisheries in the whole country and had in depth conversations with scientists in the field that support my observations and analysis. IF overfishing continues we have roughly 15 years until most fish species are extinct. If you also factor in the potentialities of heightened oil pipe-line expansion including more oil rigs, new oil freighter shipping lines, etc, and the risk of capsizing/fracking disasters then that might shave off a few years from that 15 year estimate. It is therefor ESSENTIAL that we continue to expand Aquaculture programs and assimilate them with genetic retention efforts to keep most or all water dwelling species alive. Even if they are bred in captivity and not released for 100 years (as sad as that makes me) it gives our civilization (what remains of it after food-chain collapse) a chance to clean up our mess, plug the oil holes in the sea-beds, and begin to disperse the stored genetics via advanced hatcheries.
As we have learned through previous efforts, releasing raised fish into the wild has proven mostly futile as they have NO IDEA how to survive. We are going to have to preserve the sciences and methods involved with hatcheries in order to introduce NEWBORN FINGERLINGS directly into the streams and rivers their ancestors currently/previously swam and spawned in. They say nature always has a way of fixing things and that instinct plays a role in every creatures life. Yes, raised fish have the instincts of raised fish not wild ones; but raised fish eggs born in the wild have much better odds for survival if you ask me. I haven't found any research studies or academic articles on that exact topic so it is PURE HYPOTHESIS and I have no evidence to back it up. It's part of my hope that humans will reverse the damage we have done to this planet instead of finishing it and ourselves off.
I'm not claiming to be the greatest mind in aquaponics by any means. My mentor Glenn Martinez, Murray Hallam, Will Allen, and this gentleman I'll be visiting on Whidbey island who has had his Aquaponics system running for 10 years are the greatest minds to me. Experience builds character and wisdom. I have a fraction of what they do, but relative to anyone else in this state it seems like I'm more knowledgable than most; which I find kind of unfortunate. I had high hopes for washington already being ahead of the curve, because this state has always prided itself on it's sustainability and green-mindedness. It was quite a suprise when I found out that almost nobody even knows what aquaponics is. I'm aiming to change that, and to do it fast. There isn't much time (15 years goes fast) to do what needs to be done.
It's a shame that the ancient ways of permaculture were abandoned 100 some odd years ago for industrial agriculture and deadly monocultures. Tilling this planets soils has destroyed some of the finest mycelial networks ever known to exist on this planet, and the continued tilling has prevented those supplemental nutrient networks from ever re-establishing themselves. That in turn has led to forests taking longer to bounce-back from forestry clear cuts, and logging endeavors. I could go on and on, and I'm sure you and others here know all about how permaculture, mycoremediation, and aquaponics can all feed eachother in order to drastically speed up restoration efforts of natural habitats on this planet. I have to get going to meet up with a client, so yeah.
One day it would be nice to make it out to your side of the sticks in Wisconsin. I'm hard at work on my companies website where we will have FREE online education for everything I have learned as well as hypothetical classes based on ideas and concepts that my team and I have rendered viable. I'll keep the permies here posted. Take care and mahalo nui loa for keeping this thread going.
-seth
