Recirculating Aquaculture Systems for E Coioides in Arid Areas - Thesis Proposal Example

Teacher Recirculating Aquaculture Systems for E. Coioides in Arid Areas Introduction and Overview The process of recirculating aquaculture systems in order to effectively grow E.Coioides in Arid Areas is an effective and fiscally prudent way of generating fish stock for desert regions. Simply put, recirculating aquaculture systems operate by taking existing water in tanks and filtering it from the fish in order that it can be efficiently and effectively reused within the tank. Doing so is critically important because it serves to drastically reduce the level of water, and corresponding volume of space, that is necessary to produce large amounts of seafood related products. For the purposes of this proposal, this system will be demonstrated effective to foster an environment to grow the E. Coioides species of grouper to between 700 and 800 grams. The steps that are required for this process to work within the desert climate of Saudi Arabia include the removal of solid, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and the impending process of oxygenation (Fernandes 2015). The recirculating aquaculture system is conducive to the growing of this particular species of grouper because it provides an eco-friendly method of doing so, all within the confines of an indoor facility. The filtration system that will be implemented will be operated continuously, which enables the water to be kept clean and conducive to fostering and maintaining a healthy environment for the fish within the tank. The recirculating system will also allow the water to be recycles back into the tank itself. This is a different from traditional pond type operations that take place outside. Such operations have been criticized by many, particularly environmentalists, because they use an excess of water, creating waste, and there is the potential for large amounts of pollution to be associated with the unfiltered and untreated water that is resultant from such a pond (Van Rijn 2012). In essence, the indoor tanks, through the process of reticulating and creating filtered water, provides a safer environment for humans, and fosters an effective environment for grouper to grow and thrive in massive amounts. The demand for grouper in Saudi Arabia is high, but the supply can be somewhat limited due to regional supply shortages. As such, a recirculating aquaculture system can prove effective to meet both the market demands for quality seafood products throughout the Middles East, in addition to solving the traditional problems associated with the effective maintenance of land-based farming operations. In fact, it is not just Saudi Arabia that is struggling to satisfy the populations hunger for quality fish products. There is a global growth occurring in the fishing industry, the likes of which has not been seen before in modern civilization. This is effectively depleting the resources inherent to the worlds oceans and rivers. A large scale reticulating aquaculture systems can become a realistic and viable solution to the problem facing the global fishing industry, and more localized to the issues that Saudi Arabia is encountering in this regard. Methods and Materials This proposed recirculating aquaculture system will be developed in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia within a budget of 6 million dollars. This amount will be initially required for the building out of the facility, the hatchery, and the subsequent development of the recirculating aquaculture system itself. This includes the necessary incubation tanks required for the eggs, corresponding larval tanks, grow out tanks, and brood stock tanks. As discussed in the impending review of scholarly literature, this budget is workable given the current pool of investors currently working with of recirculating aquaculture systems, successfully developing similar projects for as little as 5 million dollars. The most critical factor to be considered in this process is to ensure an adequate water supply. While this always a concern in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the very nature of the recirculating aquaculture system ensures that this can be done with minimal expense, due to the ability of the process to reuse roughly 99% of the water initially placed into the tanks. The water used must be able to dissolve oxygen and make use of unionized ammonia and dissolved carbon dioxide. The grouper species to be grown is E. Coioides, each fish coming in at a weight of 700-800 grams, and should be ready to go into full operation by the year 2020. Literature Review Recirculating aquaculture systems are largely regarded to be the future of fish farming. This is said not only from a practical viewpoint, but from an environmental one as well. Once established, such systems simply provide, what is perceived to be, the most prudent and effective manner of providing for the global need for fresh and quality seafood products moving forward. Such systems most commonly resemble a green house, complete with a plastic (or similar style) roof, holding well in excess of one thousand gallons of water per tank. Each of these tanks are then capable of easily growing and maturing hundreds of grouper, all the while recirculating water to provide a natural and clean habitat for seafood life to grown and thrive. Such systems are truly representing on the most modern, progressive, and effective developments in food sustainability attempted globally in the current age (Schreier 2010). In essence, a recirculating aquaculture system is a closed-loop type of production system that works to filter and recycle water in a tank on a continual basis. This process then ables large scale fish, such as various species of grouper, to be farmed via a method that requires an inordinately small of water, realizing next to no pollution in the process. The latest figures show that roughly 99.75 percent of the water in each tank is actually cleaned and returned back to the fish tanks themselves. The fish excrement and other waste products that are actually accumulated in the water are filtered during the recirculation process. This manure can then used as a type of fertilizer in nearby fields. This can be particularly useful in desert areas, such as Saudi Arabia, where such resources are vital to the efforts taking place to provide green areas to the region. The water that comes from the fish tanks are also extremely rich in nutrients and can be useful in helping to foster the growth of vegetables and herbs when a large scale aquaponics system is in place (Schreier 2010). This particular type of system also enables the water to be filter and reused over and over again. Perhaps the most significant benefit of recirculating aquaculture systems rests in the fact that it leaves an extremely small water footprint, meaning that regions that historically did not have access to commercial fish production options due to a lack of water resources. This makes the system an ideal fit for Saudi Arabia which has a hunger for seafood products, but limited production capacity owing to its geographical location and its lack of natural water resources. The recirculating aquaculture system could certainly prove to be a viable method of grown large amounts of grouper species, without tapping into the limited water availability existent throughout the Kingdom. The system in use in many locations around the globe today makes use of a closed loop design. This modern technology has been implemented in an effort to address some of the environmental concerns that have traditionally been raised with other aquaculture based systems, included the ocean-based net pen fish farms that have been in use, whereby certain saltwater fish species are effectively corralled in various offshore enclosures. The concern is that these pen farms, particularly when densely stocked with fish, emit a concentrated level of fish waste, which then flows directly into the ocean directly adjacent to the farms themselves. One study of such enclosures, conducted in Europe, found that the levels of pollution from the average salmon farm, for example, is roughly equivalent to the discharge of raw human waste coming from a town of several thousand people (Fernandes 2015). Needless to say, this has created a concern that such attempts at growing seafood is coming at the expense of the environment, which is another indicator that the proposed recirculating aquaculture system is the most prudent method to grown sizable amounts of grouper species in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fish waste is not the only primary concern when considering tradition farm fishing methods, as antibiotics and other chemicals that are comment given to farmed fish often make their way directly into surrounding water as well. As a result, disease is a common concern that is associated with net pen farming, particularly as crowded fish within the pens themselves are quite susceptible to certain outbreaks that can then spread to wild fish populations existent with the larger body of water. Growing fish via a recirculating aquaculture systems almost eliminates these risks, however, making it amenable to the grouper species in particular (Van Rijn 2012). Literature indicates that research into the possibility of developing a recirculating aquaculture system actually began back in 1992. The goal was to illustrate a potential reality whereby such recirculating systems could actually produce healthy fish just as quickly as the farm fishing methods that were endemic at that time. In doing so, the hope was the such a system could not grow fish at just a rapid rate, eliminating financial concerns, but that it would leave much less of an environmental footprint as well. The problem early on was the reality that tradition fish farmers, most of them working offshore, simply did not pay for the water they used, nor did they endure the expense associated with cleaning the water that the fish were housed in. This was an environmental factor, to be sure, but the consequences were not adequately known or discussed two decades ago. This made it difficult for recirculating aquaculture systems to gain much traction towards the end of the last century, but momentum has now shifted as a result of the systems themselves becoming extremely efficient to the point that they are cost competitive when put up against most freshwater fishing operations. In addition, the recirculating systems are now catching the interest of traditional commercial fish farmers who are under increased pressure from local and national governments, in addition to environmentalists, to adopt more friendly fishing methods. All around, this system appears poised to be a great breakthrough moving forward to develop the fishing industry for generations to come, even in desert regions. There are now fish farms in the United States, for example that are considering an investment of up to $50 million to develop recirculating aquaculture systems technology (Schreier 2010). Such a system could certainly be developed in Saudi Arabia in the next several years and be fully operational by the year 2020. There are certainly some obstacles to the large scale and commercial production of recirculating aquaculture systems that must be notes, and some of these do make investors cautious in its implementation. The current global economic crisis that is still affecting many reins is primary among these, potentially limiting the pool of individuals that can contribute substantively to the development of such a system in Saudi Arabia, but this can be overcome once a thorough cost benefit analysis is run. The recent development of alternative fish feed farms have also coincided with the implementation of low cost recirculating aquaculture systems. These systems work on the principle of utilizing plant based proteins that can almost completely replace the fish meal and oil generated from fish caught in the wild (Schreier 2010). This is then used as a conventional fish feed that can be useful for meat eating farmed fish, such as salmon and trout. All of this important because current research reveals that consumer demand for a clear, greener, and safe seafood is certainly increasing throughout the world today. Many of the most popular species of wild fish are becoming sorely depleted in the worlds oceans and rivers, which means that aquaculture systems are being increasingly looked to as becoming a way of meeting this global demand. Aquaculture itself refers to the development and growth of certain aquatic plants and animals within a captive environment. This practice is increasingly being utilized around the world. To illustrate this fact, consider the reality that between the years 2004 and 2006, then year on end growth rate in the industry was 6.1 percent in volume, and roughly 11 percent in terms of value (Van Rijn 2012). The recirculating aquaculture system being proposed to use in Saudi Arabia is a closed loop facility that can retain and treat water from within the system itself. The water in the system is designed to flow from the fish tank through a comprehensive filtering process, before returning to the fish tank. The design is environmentally sustainable, as up to 99 percent less water is used in comparison to other aquaculture based systems. Recirculating aquaculture systems effectively works to reduce the discharge of waste products, which eliminates the necessity of injecting antibiotics or chemicals that are needed to ward off disease as a result of the pollutants created. While this type of system has been developed for over 30 years now, various refinements and improvements made to the technique has dramatically increased production, profitability, and environmental sustainability leaving little doubt that global fishing operations can benefit from its implementation(Fernandes 2015). There are actually numerous technique that can be incorporated into this process in order to clean the water coming from the fish tanks and then reusing it. Some of the existing recirculating aquaculture system fish farm utilize the concept of aquaponics. This involves the actual growing of herbs and vegetables directly in the water and placing them in the system itself. As plants require 13 different elements to grow and flourish, the waste water coming out of the water naturally, these elements are easily provided to the plants. The plants then flourish in a water system that is nutrient rich, which then enables the water to be purified for reuse. This occurs naturally because the plants within the recirculating system effectively absorb the nutrients from the waste, leaving the resultant clean water to go directly back into the fish tank (Schreier 2010). All with no expense and without the normal pollution that occurs in ocean based fish farms. Research further reveals that there are currently two main categories of recirculating aquaculture systems in use today. These basically boil down to either freshwater or saltwater functionality. Each of these two categories pairs specifically with a particular type of technology that is designed to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency inherent within the system itself. They also work to minimize any effluent discharge that might result, in addition to correlating well with other technologies that are being developed to further enhance the effectiveness of raising grouper species in this manner. For the purposes of this project in Saudi Arabia, it is important to understand exactly how a recirculating aquaculture system works and can benefit the region. One of the main features of the system itself, naturally, rests in its ability to re use water. The water that is present in each of the tanks is actually continuously recirculated throughout the system in a clean and filtered fashion and effectively eliminates waste products. In order to accomplish this important objective, each of the tanks and their corresponding components are interconnected via a series of pipes. The water then flows directly from the fish tank itself to a mechanical filter that has been developed to eliminate solid waste byproducts from the fish. Once this process is completed, the water then moves directly into a biological filter. The biological filter has the designed purpose to convert ammonia into a nitrate form. Some recirculating aquaculture systems actually put into place plant takes that act as a biological filter as well, whereby the plants absorb the nutrients, which naturally cleans the water. There are still other systems in use today that have been developed to promote the growth of good bacteria, and that bacteria then acts as the field. Under either system, the filtered water than flows directly back into the tank to be reused. In essence, there are quite a few options available to the development of such a system to be implemented in Saudi Arabia (Fernandes 2015). These systems also serve to provide the operators throughout the region with a high level of biosecurity. In the end, recirculating aquaculture systems are typically fully closed, enabling them to be fully controlled. This aspect alone makes the system almost 100% biosecure, which means that diseases and parasites find it extremely difficult, it not impossible, to get into the water. Because of this feature, recirculating aquaculture systems can often operate entirely independent of any chemicals, drugs, or antibiotics being added to the tanks, which results in a fish that is more natural for the end consumer. Any given water supply is typically susceptible to foreign pathogens being able to easily enter, so the water contained in recirculating aquaculture systems must first be disinfected. An alternative is to include water that does not contain any fish or invertebrates at all, as these could be potential carriers of pathogen. Such water is most often sourced from either rain, spring, or well water. The biosecurity features inherent in recirculating aquaculture systems also allow them to be cleaned easily, as often as necessary, in a further effort to reduce pathogens present in the water. The fact that recirculating aquaculture systems are both self-contained and cleaner than other traditional fish farming methods, allows them to be placed near markets that are in land locked areas, such as vast regions of Saudi Arabia. The recirculating aquaculture systems do not have to be located near any sources of natural water, such as rivers and oceans, and they do not require such a water supply in order to properly drain. Being able to grow large amounts of grouper in desert regions, such as those found throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, make for a much smaller than normal carbon footprint as well, owing to the limited distance required to ship seafood products to such area, in addition to provide a much fresher fish to the end consumer. There is also a practical application for the use of recirculating aquaculture systems in Saudi Arabia. The demand for fresh seafood products continues to increase, but access is non-ocean areas is often limited at best. Recirculating aquaculture systems acutely make use of a self-contained system that reuses water, thereby limited the amount of natural resources that must be used in such an operation. The fish waste that is inevitably created can then be effective removed, the water treated, and then actually be recycled right back into the tanks themselves. All of this enables recirculating aquaculture systems production levels of grouper fish, in addition to other species, to be must higher than those found in other types of aquaculture systems. The process actually controls the respective environmental conditions in the location that it is placed, and in which the grouper is developed, which enables this to take place year round. Because of this, the recirculating aquaculture systems that can be put into operation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can potentially produce grouper in the 700-800 gram per fish range in as little as nine months. This is much less time than the 15 to 18 months that is often required for fish of this species to be raised in other types of fish farms. In addition, the land space that is required to complete this operation is drastically reduced under the recirculating aquaculture systems. An example is that it can take up to 200 acres of open water sources to produce that a substantial number of grouper, where a recirculating aquaculture system requires just over 6 acres to grow and develop the same number of fish to the same size. Conclusion Saudi Arabia is a perfect location to develop this process of growing sizable amounts of grouper species, as the recirculating aquaculture system is conducive to the technique owing to its ability to provide an eco-friendly method of doing so, all within the confines of an indoor facility. The filtration system that will be implemented will be operated continuously, which enables the water to be kept clean and conducive to fostering and maintaining a healthy environment for the fish within the tank. The recirculating system will also allow the water to be recycles back into the tank itself. This is a different from traditional pond type operations that take place outside. Such operations have been criticized by many, particularly environmentalists, because they use an excess of water, creating waste, and there is the potential for large amounts of pollution to be associated with the unfiltered and untreated water that is resultant from such a pond. In essence, the indoor tanks, through the process of reticulating and creating filtered water, provides a safer environment for humans, and fosters an effective environment for grouper to grow and thrive in massive amounts. The demand for grouper in Saudi Arabia is high, but the supply can be somewhat limited due to regional supply shortages. As such, a recirculating aquaculture system can prove effective to meet both the market demands for quality seafood products throughout the Middles East, in addition to solving the traditional problems associated with the effective maintenance of land-based farming operations. In fact, it is not just Saudi Arabia that is struggling to satisfy the populations hunger for quality fish products. There is a global growth occurring in the fishing industry, the likes of which has not been seen before in modern civilization. This is effectively depleting the resources inherent to the worlds oceans and rivers. A large scale reticulating aquaculture systems can become a realistic and viable solution to the problem facing the global fishing industry, and more localized to the issues that Saudi Arabia is encountering in this regard. Works Cited Fernandes, Paulo. “Microscreen Effects on Water Quality in Replicated Recirculating Aquaculture Systems”. Aquacultural Engineering, 65.1 (2015): 17. Schreier, Harold. “Microbial Diversity of Biological Filters in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems”. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 21.3 (2010); 318-325. Van Rijn, Jaap. “Waste Treatment in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems”. Aquaculture Engineering, 53.1 (2012): 49. Read More