Hello, I am the garden coordinator at a resilient living and sustainability research campus in northern Minnesota, i have been using local fish species in our systems on campus for over six years, the bluegill and sunfish have been doing great, with our Flood and Drain systems we and haven’t lost a fish, the systems just get better with time. I have also been working with local bait- fish/minnows in our prototype small scale wall mount systems in an effort to grow food and try to breed them, some of our species of bait fish are dwindling due to different factors from over harvesting for sport fishing to harmful water run off into lakes and rivers. These minnows are an important part of the natural food chain for many different animals. The numbers of our Golden Shiner minnow species have been dramatically reduced, and if managed in aquaponic systems along with other bait-fish, there could be a great potential for reducing harvesting pressure in wild species by breeding and raising minnows, not only for sport fishing but re-stocking endangered species. Along with producing food, the profit potential could be high. One dozen shiners usually sells for $12 - $14.
3 Likes
This sounds like a great idea. Thank you for sharing the information.
Great idea of the bait fish.
Are there any sources on breeding them?
There has been some good information that I’ve gotten from aquarium hobbyist’s who breed fish.