We are presenting today the aquaponics system with mullet and salicornia developed in NewTechAqua project at Sofas2023-GFCM congress in Trabzon, Turkey. A good practice of restorative aquaculture exploitable in the Mediterranean and black Sea basins. This prototype, that’s work as a living lab, has been the winner of the MedFish4Ever Award on innovative practices in aquaculture research.
But to be successful, in innovation practices, a hybridization of disciplines must occur: human creativity, science, design and engineering.
- Knowledge no longer belongs only to each of them, is the result of the hybridization of some or all of them.
- Any project that we can consider revolutionary must be based on more than one of these disciplines.
- And at the same time, it must be simple and effective, that is why we like the concept of frugal innovation, which is what we have applied to these aquaponic systems.
Things that are easy to apply and have an impact in a wide area. In some cases, a small impact and in others a large one, but generating new approaches that will lead to other solutions.
That is why we believe that our model is radical, since we do not know how it will end.
Now we are integrating seaweed, next stage is using ponds in combination with low trophic fish, like grey mullet, with plants and maybe clams or oyster.
In fact, we are closing aquaponics to IMTA concepts, and reduce as much as possible cost and impact.
https://www.fao.org/gfcm/meetings/MedFish4Ever/awards/irta-saltwater-aquaponicsystem