Opinion | My million-dollar idea: Saltwater fish farms
Opinion | My million-dollar idea: Saltwater fish farms
Editorial: As seen in volume 112, issue 10 of The Collegian.
In high school, I found my million-dollar idea. I had this idea that I would own my own saltwater fish farm.
Living in Oklahoma, a landlocked state, I thought that I could make saltwater fish local by having tanks of saltwater fish and selling them to restaurants in order for the price of fish to be less. After doing some research, I realized that my million-dollar idea had already been done.
I encountered the world of aquaculture and aquaponics. Aquaculture is farming fish, shellfish, and plants in water and aquaponics combines the raising of fish with soilless plants to create food production through plants and fish. After more thorough research I found the pros and cons of these fish farms in the United States.
The conversations about how to supply the growing population in the world have always been around. Fish was a way of growing food fast that still had the proteins to sustain life.
The downside was that certain populations of fish compete with each other in confined spaces and would attract parasites. Another con is that fish farms in rivers and oceans become dangerous for human populations and other species that consume the same water as the water would be contaminated.
In theory, these bodies of water are most likely polluted anyway from human use and fish from these farms would be the same as fishing out of them for food. Although, fish farms in these bodies of water disrupt the environment for other life. The better solution is to have a setup on land to keep these types of fish separated and in their own spaces so that they are not contaminating other things around them.
With recent technology, aquaculture has created new equipment to ensure the quality of food that is being produced from the fish farms. On the other hand, I really like the idea of aquaponics because of the ecosystem it creates between hydroponics and aquaculture.
That was my next million-dollar idea: to grow foods to supply locally grown food to restaurants and grocery stores. With all new technology, it comes with trial and error, but these systems will eventually become a way of life in order to meet the growing food demand.
Although my million-dollar idea had already been done, I still think it is a great idea to sustain the appropriate environment for growing saltwater fish locally in landlocked states. Instead of creating more damage to the environments that we already have such as the ocean.
I am not for the use of saltwater fish farms in large bodies of water like the ocean or rivers, but can be appropriate for land usage with the new technology that can prevent the parasites and contamination that have become worries for this system.