Aquaculture Systems

in Permaculture
 What is an Aquatic ecosystem?
WETlands: Lakes, ponds
 Any ecosystem marshes, swamps, rivers,
estuaries, bays
where water exists
for a majority of the
year and/or growing
season (i.e. the
soils are inundated).
 Usually defined by
the watershed it
inhabits. A basin or
drainage pathway.
 What is an Aquaculture
system?
 A Human
designed
aquatic
ecosystem
managed for
food production
 Why Aquaculture?
 Increased productivity of aquatic systems
 Highly mutlifunctional use of water in
landscape
 High quality protein foods
 Current fisheries are being ʻminedʼ to
extinction
 Waste as a resource
 Why Aquaculture?
 Physical and ecological basis of Increased
productivity of aquatic system
 4-20 x more productive / acre than soil
farming
 High conversion ratio of feed : flesh (1.5-3 : 1)

 Diminished effects of gravity

 3-D medium  more complex edges

 Durable landscape features

 Bioavailable nutrients

 Constant water supply

 Non-food yields
 Functions of Water in
Landscape
 Reflective  Fire Break
Surface  Recreation
 Transport  Irrigation
 Thermal Mass
 Cooling
 Energy
Production
 Waste Treatment
 Run-off Surface
 Energy Storage
 Food Production
 Design parameters of
Aquaculture systems
 Volume, Surface Area, and Edge
 Catchment Area, precipitation,
evaporation
 Soils and substrate
 Depth (deeps and shallows)
 Temperature, pH
 Aeration, Flow
 Nutrient supply
 Guilds: plants and animals
 Stocking Rates and Harvest
 Strucutres
 Connections
 Design parameters of
Aquaculture systems
 Volume, Surface Area,
 Guilds: plants and
and Edge
animals
 Depth (deeps and
 Strucutres
shallows)
 Connections
 Nutrient supply
 Stocking Rate and
Harvest
 Design parameters of
Aquaculture systems : Climate
Context
 Volume, Surface Area,
and Edge
 Catchment Area,
precipitation,
evaporation
 Temperature, pH
 Aeration, Flow
 Design parameters of
Aquaculture systems
 Nutrient supply
 Feed and Diet of Fish, Crustaceans, Frogs, Ducks…
 Bioavailable nutrients for vegetation: manures, litter..
 Guilds: Stocking Rates
 Animals: Fish, Mollusks, Crustaceans, Amphibians,
Reptiles, Mammals, Birds, Worms, Insects…
 Plants: Shoreline, island, emergent, floating,
submerged, algae…
 Strucutres: Particularly for harvest, feeding, and
habitat
 Rafts, Piers, Animal housing, fences and nets, siphons
and pumps, Trellis, Greenhouse, Shadehouse, Logs,
 Connections
 Aquatic-terrestrial
connections
 The many edges
 Islands, peninsulas,
shoreline
 Vegetation
 Overhanging, shading,
windbreak
 Animals
 Chickens, pigs, insects, fowl,
reptiles
 Irrigation
 Structures
 Floating, overhanging, next
 Permaculture Thinking
Applied
 Relative Location
 Stacking Functions
 Diverse Connections
 Next Best Use
 Location in Landscape Profile
 Zones/Sector planning
 Edge Effects
 Scale and Orders
 Nesting and Tesselation
 Run-off vs. Run-
on Surfaces
 Position in
Landscape Profile
 Inputs, Use, and
Output locations
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 Methods of Design
 Random Assembly
 Deduction from Nature
 Zone and Sector planning
 Functional Analysis
 Flow Diagrams
 Observation
 Incremental
 Design exercise/game:
 Where do you want
your pond and who
do you want in and
around it? Production Consumption

 How does the location

of a pond determine
itʼs uses?
 How many beneficial
connections can we Waste
make to an aquatic
ecosystem?
 Traditional Aquaculture
Systems
 Chinampas: 50% water : 50% land
 Ohana system: Hawaiʼi
 Rice Padis
 European Carp
ponds
Chinampas
 Chinampa
s
 Series of
channels
 Trellis or
greenhouse add-
ons
 Shelves: allow
wet-dry cycling
 Overstory tree
crops
 Bog crops
 Water transport
 Urban aquaculture and
aquaculture innovations:
 Aquaponics in permaculture systems
 Stacking Functions
 Biogas
 Vermiculture

 Greenhouses

 Rooftop

 Compost

 Thermal Mass
Natural Swimming Pools
 Invisible structures associated
with Aquaculture
 Socio-cultural
 Trend away from ʻFarmedʼ Fish vs.
overfishing of natural waters
 Fish is a ʻhealthʼ food

 Economic
 Assess local markets
 Legal
 Permits, Sell Live ʻFishʼ
Questions and Comments