Improvising solutions, reducing losses: closed system fish farmers in Western Massachusetts

Abstract

In this article, I examine a closed-system, recirculating aquaculture operation in New England growing Australasian Barramundi to be sold alive to the East Asian diaspora in cities across North America. I center on the development, through trial and error, of a hydrolysate fertilizer product that has the potential to repurpose much of the operation’s waste, including the dead fish that constitute routine operational losses. I argue that improvisation on the part of self-identified fish farmers at small and midsize closed-system farms is leading to improvements in fish health as well as the reduction and repurposing of waste. I draw on practice theory and the concept of “bricolage” to demonstrate how individual agency and improvisation reduce the environmental harm of finfish aquaculture operations and thereby contribute to broader sustainability goals.

IMPLICATIONS

While aquaculture has been promoted as a sustainable alternative to fishing, large-scale industrial fish farming continues to cause environmental harm. In small-scale closed system aquaculture operations, however, much of this harm is reduced. Farmers working with these systems have less room for error and are therefore encouraged to improvise and develop novel solutions that are both economically and environmentally beneficial. Individual improvisation thus has the potential to improve the aquaculture sector if practical solutions are adopted industry-wide.

Keywords:

• Aquaculture
• farming
• sustainability
• improvisation
• waste

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A pseudonym, as are the names of all individuals described in this article.

2 The use of antibiotics at concentrated animal feeding operations has been shown to contribute to the evolution of antibiotic resistant pathogens.

3 The classic example of open-system aquaculture is industrial salmon farming, in which fish are raised in marine net pens anchored in marine ecosystems which, in theory, absorb and/or remove waste and surplus feed.

4 There are seven systems in all, each of which is independent, recirculating water through its own biofilter.

5 With the exception of the fertilization and subsequent hatching of eggs, as previously noted.

6 While Sea Broth was Walter’s brainchild, the grinder was built by one of the owners of White Water and his son, who previously worked as an engineer on offshore oil rigs.

7 The small town of Riverside Junction currently charges White Water to treat its liquid waste and then dispose of it via the Connecticut River.

Additional information

Funding

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Notes on contributors

Eric H. Thomas

Eric H. Thomas is an environmental anthropologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In addition to his work in New England, he has conducted research on the sociopolitical and environmental impacts of expanding aquaculture in the Aysén Region of southern Chile since 2015.