Aquaponic development around the world -- an overview of the aquaponic technology in which an aquaculture enterprise provides both fish for sale and wastes for an organic hydroponic enterprise growing plants for sale.
Australian aquaponics is currently focused on barramundi and lettuce in NSW, and trout and wasabi in Victoria. But a wider range of other species of fin fish, crustaceans and molluscs are capable of being teamed up with a wider range of edible plants -- including freshwater and saltwater plants that are fodder for appropriate aquatic animals. America and Israel currently lead aquaponic development, but Australia has innovations that are likely to make it an aqua[ponic centre of excellence also.
About Geoff Wilson:
Geoff Wilson is the convenor of the AAQ's newly-established Aquaponics Study Group. He has been a food and agriculture journalist and communicator since graduating from agricultural college (Dookie) in Victoria in 1957. He has written for most rural newspapers and magazines in Australia and New Zealand since then, and for newspapers and magazines in Asia, Europe and the United States. He currently writes on aquaculture, aquaponics, hydroponics, aeroponics, probiotics, urban agriculture and microfarming for “The Growing Edge” (US), “Aquaponics Journal” (US) and “Fish Farming International” (UK). Wilson is launching “Urban Agriculture Online” as an Internet magazine/information service published by Nettworx Publishing Pty Ltd. It will publish his 2,500 to 10,000-word reports on urban aquaculture and aquaponics (plus other subjects).
For 10 years from the late 1970’s to the late 1980s Wilson was agribusiness columnist for “The Age” daily newspaper in Melbourne. He was managing editor of “Australian Dairy Foods” magazine for 12 years and “Caseus” the cheese magazine for 2 years; managed and edited “Australian Forest Grower” magazine for 8 years, “Riverlander” magazine for two years and “Agribusiness Executive” for one year (these being concurrent activities in freelance journalism and publishing during the 1970s and 1980s). He also worked in South East Asian countries on food industry and forest industry magazines such as “Asia Pacific Forest Industries” and “Asia Pacific Food Industries” (living in Singapore) and has been Western Pacific correspondent or contributor in agribusiness for both Asian and North American newspapers and magazines ( such as the “Asian Wall Street Journal” and “World Agricultural Report” ).
He was appointed Executive Officer (honorary) of the Urban Agriculture Network Inc - Western Pacific Office, in February 1998. He is now President of UAN-WP. It currently operates from Australia, with networking now in Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. The parent organization was established under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme in 1992, and operates as an NGO from Washington DC.