by Eleine Fang
A mechanical hum like the crashing of ocean waves fills the air as workers weave through the large tanks that held clusters of black and silver fish of all sizes.
In a super-sized trailer set at an industrial park near the airport in Turner Falls, Mass., a new kind of farming is taking place. In exchange for crops growing in rows, giant pools over six feet tall fill up the room. A jungle of pipes weaving along the walls and ceilings replace the sky and damp cement floors are chosen over soil. The air does not smell of fertilizer, but of the industrial machines’, heated metal and a musk similar to the smell of fish day at a Chinese supermarket.
The fish is called barramundi, and it’s grown at the Australis Barramundi Farm– one of the largest and fastest growing aquaculture farms in the nation. Known in the seafood world as “The Better Fish,” the barramundi are grown locally within an eco-friendly environment. Because of its nutritional and environmental value, the fish play an important role in preventing the decline of wild fish stock.
This is the product of Josh Goldman’s ambitious dream. From the two 500 gallon fish tanks he and his roommates built in the solar greenhouse attached to their Hampshire College apartment, Goldman has constructed an aquatic enterprise based on the land-based farming techniques they developed in 1983.
“I really didn’t envision it way back then,” says Goldman. “To find a way to address food insecurity and the environmental footprint of food production, that was really the motivation of getting involved in aquaculture.”
At Australis they use close-containment farming. From when the fish hatch, they are transported from tank to tank as they are graded.
“We’ll have half the fish go to the next system, and the smaller ones come back,” says Ryan Hooker, Australis Barramundi’s lead technician. “They grow better when they’re the same size.”
Did he mention that these aggressive fish also have a tendency to eat each other? The cannibalistic trait of the barramundi makes it very important to separate out the fish for their survival.
“The bigger ones will eat the smaller ones,” says Hooker. “Out in the fingerling system you can see it sometimes. If they aren’t full they’re going to eat.”
So what do the fish eat if not each other? Fish food made of low food chain organisms and grains. To generate hunger, the fish are constantly swimming against the pool’s current created by jetting 99.9 percent recirculated and cleaned water into tanks. The barramundi then pile on top of each other during feeding time, fighting for the medium-sized brown pellets that contain essential nutrients.
After the fish are separated, they are sent through “pescalators,” tubes that bring the fish in the air allowing easy transportation from one tank room to another. In the final grow-out tank system, around 120,000 fish in four tanks are matured at a time. The fish are constantly weighed and graded according to size and then shipped off for sale.
“Basically you need someone feeding and paying close attention, every day at every tank,” says Hooker.
For some of these fish, their journey ends on a porcelain plate. Although Australis usually sells to distributors, local restaurants like Amherst Chinese also depend on this farm for fish.
At Amherst Chinese Food, the barramundi is used in several of their dishes. The Hunan Crispy Fish is a filet while others like the Szechuan Style Fish are served as whole fish.
“The barramundi is a very popular one. Most people order family style- whole fish, whole family, whole meal, like that,” says Nate Wang, a waiter at Amherst Chinese.
On a larger geographic scale, barramundi farming could be the solution to seafood scarcity. According to Australis experts, populations of wild fish such as tuna have declined as much as 90 percent in the past century.
Aquaculture can help wild fish stock when it is done right. Creating only a small environmental footprint in the process, the farming techniques at Australis are considered “the gold standard.”
“It’s surprising when people think growing fish in a tropical environment would be very expensive, but because we re-use the water, essentially what we’re doing is just heating the building like any other,” says Goldman.
According to the State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture in 2010, 85 percent of global fisheries are fully exploited, over exploited or completely depleted. A huge challenge that many of these fisheries face is forage fish hunting. Many fish need necessary nutrients from other fish to maintain their flavor and health benefits.
“Because we are seeing examples now of harvesting small forage fish for fish meal, we may not have as much forage fish as we thought in the ocean,” says Andy Danylchuk, University of Massachusetts aquaculture professor.
Lucky for consumers, Australis uses an alternative to forage fish in their feed.
“Barramundi fits in the middle and brings together for the first time a fish that can eat less fish meal and oil and are less dependent on the oceans without compromising the omega-3 content,” says Goldman.
Coming to the end of the rows, the room of fish tanks is an overwhelming scene of both production and environmental values. Australis not only provides barramundi to the masses, but also strives to spread awareness about eating green seafood.
“Our vision is having people rethink this and learn about smart aquaculture or aquaculture 2.0 and to be the first health and sustainability brand that is recognized in the world seafood category,” says Goldman.
Eleine Fang can be reached via email at [email protected].