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A July 13, 2015 article in Mainebiz that discusses the burgeoning aquaponics industry in Maine highlighted UNE’s pilot aquaponics project.

Aquaponics is a food production system that combines traditional aquaculture (the raising of aquatic animals, such as fish) with hydroponics (the cultivation of plants in water) and uses fish waste as fertilizer for growing vegetables.

The article presents information on two Maine aquaponics businesses, including Fluid Farms of Yarmouth, which is consulting with UNE’s pilot aquaponics project. The project, under the direction of Jeri Fox, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Marine Sciences and project coordinator for Aquaculture and Aquarium Sciences, is “ready to scale up its experimental aquaponics facility to provide year-round fresh greens to the cafeteria.”

Fox, who was interviewed for the article, explained that the aquaponics project at UNE is part of the Edible Campus Initiative, an effort to maximize the amount of food produced in a sustainable manner at the university. “We’ll use marginal space to produce food,” she stated. “We can raise lettuce inside all seasons, so we can keep production going that could continually stock the salad bar.”

While participants in the project, which is housed in the Marine Science Center, currently produce lettuce, basil and pole beans in a plant tank, they hope to construct a 30-foot vertical aquaponics farm.

“It’s all about space,” noted Fox. “You can grow anywhere.”