Okanagan company teaches plant-growing technique using fish

A Vernon company is teaching people a technique for raising fish and growing plants at the same time.

The system, called aquaponics, is a combination of aquaculture, which is the raising of aquatic species in a contained system, and hydroponics, which is growing plants without soil using nutrients, said Jeff Smith, farm manager and technician at the Aquaponics Training Institute.

"It's ecologically sound and we want to provide the expertise for people so that they understand and are able to operate this," Smith said.

The North Okanagan institute opened at the end of March and has been hosting workshops and free monthly information sessions on how the systems work.

"People need to understand that it's very simplistic farming ... All of your lakes, all of your ponds, all of your creeks, they all operate on these systems," said Smith.

Shawn Bonnough, marketing manager at the institute, believes the aquaponic system can help the environment by making more food available locally.

"Peeling our labels, and recycling our cans, and composting are nice ideas but, it's not enough, not when our dinner travelled 6,500 kilometres on fossil fuels," he said.

"We've got to eliminate that distance and go back to community-based farming or growing your own food in your backyard."

Closed loop 

Aquaponics operates on a closed loop, using a fish tank or large container for the fish to live in, a recirculating system or tubes that connects the water to the plants, and a location for the plants to grow.

Waste produced by the fish is converted by micro-organisms in the water into a form of nitrogen that the plants can use.The plants then uptake the nitrogen, cleaning the water for the fish, and then send the clean water back down to them, Smith explained to Daybreak South's Christine Coulter. 

The Aquaponics Training Institute has several different styles of systems.

One room has a very large aquaponic system with six-metre sea cans with fish inside and lettuce growing. However, in the classroom, they are teaching a simpler system using fish tanks with cichlids to grow strawberry plants. 

"The first thing that everybody is going to learn when they walk into our classroom [is understanding] the rhythm between plants, animals ,water, bacteria," said Smith.

"It has to be a gentle balance, and we'll teach that here."

He also hopes to eventually teach people how to legally grow cannabis using the aquaponic system. 

Growing interest

Since opening, they have held three information sessions, said Barbara Bonnough, events manager at the institute.

Some people are looking to create systems in their own homes, while others are looking to build bigger ones out of a greenhouse, she said.

"It's been great to have such a good turnout with people that  have an interest in growing in this way."