3 minute read
Not Your Average Fish Farm
from June Issue
NOT YOUR AVERAGE Fish Farm
By Amanda Overstreet, Communications Coordinator
IMAGINE PRODUCING a high quality productgrown at a rate nearly 10 times faster than in soil witha smaller carbon footprint. The science behind thismethod of agriculture is known as aquaponics.
A resourceful method of food production, aquaponics systems use effluent from fish to grow plants by combining re-circulating aquaculture (RAS) and hydroponics.
Jean-Sebastien Gros is the managing director and on-site project manager of Marineland Aquaponics, a state-of-the-art marine harvesting operation in Putnam County.
Conveniently located next to Deep Creek on the St. Johns River, Marineland Aquaponics is the successor and repurposing of Anguilla Fish Farm, a flow-through aquaculture system that produced hybrid striped bass, Anguilla eels and tilapia for over 35 years.
“Anguilla Fish Farm was completely devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016,” Gros explained. “The farm encountered exceptional flooding and the entire electrical grid was wiped out. Over half a million fish were lost in just a few hours.”
Gros said that the operation was hit once more in 2017 when Hurricane Irma barreled through the state, this time even harder. His partner and avid conservation leader, Jim Jacoby, purchased the farm in April of 2018 to convert it to a resilient and sustainable RAS system.
Gros brings with him 30-plus years of executive management experience working in large scale
aquaculture, specifically farmraised salmon produced in Chile. He has also supported aquaculture projects worldwide in Haiti, China and Vietnam.
Marineland Aquaponics is his latest project and it is scheduled to be completed with its first phase by September of this year. The project will transform the flowthrough aquaculture system into a complete re-circulation system that uses cutting-edge aquaponics techniques.
Suzanne Archer is the Technical Program Coordinator for Agricultural Assistance with the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) and learned of Marineland Aquaponics’ project through one of the district’s costshare programs.
The SJRWMD partnership awarded Marineland Aquaponics with funding in the amount of $250,000 towards project costs.
“This project is one of the most exciting things we’ve seen in over 10 years,” Archer said.
The state-of-the-art recirculation system will eliminate all discharge offsite by recycling 100 percent of the fish waste as a nutrient source for plants.
Archer explained that Anguilla Fish Farm had a consumptive use permit from the SJRWMD for 4.31 million gallons of water per day. Gros’ project will use less than 100,000 gallons of water per month and discharge zero of the 3.7 million gallons of surface water permitted into the St. Johns River.
“We are in a state that has been plagued with red tide, green tide and algal blooms, and unfortunately, a lot of fingers are pointed at agriculture,” Archer explained. “The positive things that Marineland Aquaponics is doing to conserve and protect our natural resources is just really amazing.” The property consists of 31 acres with plenty of room to expand. Gros originally planned to grow bait fish, catfish and lettuce for the local regional market but the project has evolved into much more.
“We plan to grow marine shrimp and hemp which is much more valuable and it doesn’t change our infrastructure,” he said. “We’re going to be selling our products all over the world
under the Fresh From Florida label. It’s all about high standards and quality assured, sustainable production.”
Marineland Aquaponics will also offer an agritourism venture and welcomes students and visitors for tours of the facility where they can learn about how aquaponics farming is sustainable.
David Dinkins has been an Extension Agent with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for more than 30 years. “Agritourism is a growing industry in the tri-county area and it is a great way to educate the public on agricultural practices,” he said.
“Gros and Jacoby have put a lot of time into researching this project and have sought expertise from us at UF/IFAS,” Dinkins said. “Not all farms are set up for agritourism but Marineland Aquaponics is designing their project with that in mind.”
Gros is excited about working with farmers in the area and has hopes of partnering with other growers in the future. “Our project is all open cards and we will share our successes and failures with everyone,” he said. “This project could fundamentally change agriculture in this area forever.”
For more information, visit https://marineland aquaponics.com/.
Infrastructure of the new re-circulation project.
(ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARINELAND AQUAPONICS)
