Aquaponics, a combination of fish farming and soilless plant farming, is growing in popularity and gaining attention as an important and potentially more sustainable method of food production. The aim of this study was to document and analyze the production methods, experiences, motivations, and demographics of aquaponics practitioners in the United States (US) and internationally. The survey was distributed online using a chain sampling method that relied on referrals from initial respondents, with 809 respondents meeting the inclusion criteria. The majority of respondents were from the US (80%), male (78%), and had at least a high school degree (91%). The mean age of respondents was 47±13 years old. Most respondents (52%) had three years or less of aquaponics experience. Respondents typically raised tilapia or ornamental fish and a variety of leafy green vegetables, herbs, and fruiting crops. Respondents were most often motivated to become involved in aquaponics to grow their own food, for environmental sustainability reasons, and for personal health reasons. Many respondents employed more than one method to raise crops, and used alternative or environmentally sustainable sources of energy, water, and fish feed. In general, our findings suggest that aquaponics is a dynamic and rapidly growing field with participants who are actively experimenting with and adopting new technologies. Additional research and outreach is needed to evaluate and communicate best practices within the field. This survey is the first large-scale effort to track aquaponics in the US and provides information that can better inform policy, research, and education efforts regarding aquaponics as it matures and possibly evolves into a mainstream form of agriculture.

School gardens and demonstration farms are exciting avenues for experiential learning in education. Aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, is an attractive educational tool because systems are self-contained ecosystems that allow teachers and students to explore a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. The aim of this study was to characterize the use of aquaponics in education in the United States (US) using an online survey. One hundred respondents who completed the survey were engaged with aquaponics education and met the inclusion criteria for the study. Thirty-six percent of respondents worked for primary and secondary schools, 53% represented colleges or universities, and 11% worked for vocational or trade schools. Respondents reported the subjects taught, target audiences, number of participating students or visitors, and the resources and funding used by their organizations. Respondents used aquaponics to engage students in a variety of STEM subjects. In total, respondents and their institutions engaged an estimated range of 12,320 to 50,250 participants per year in aquaponics education. The typical school invested $1,000 to $4,999 US dollars (USD) in their aquaponics facility during the previous year, with a combined total of $1.4 to $6.6 million USD invested by all academic institutions. Aquaponics is an emerging educational tool, and there is a need for continued collaboration, technical support, and training for educators from universities and aquaculture education and research centers in the US and other countries.

In the last 20 years K-12 aquaculture education has moved from its place as an extension of vocational agriculture in the United States to having solidified itself as an integral part of environmental, biological and research-related courses in classrooms across the USA. This attention to aquaculture in the classroom has been driven in large part through support by government agencies like the National Council for Agriculture Education, the US Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation, and other entities such as aquaculture industry, university outreach and education programmes, regional and state boards of education, and fishery management organizations. References give indications that aquaculture is an effective teaching tool (Caldwell, 1998) and students are highly motivated to learn in an environment that includes aquaculture (Wigenbach et al., 1999). This chapter presents an overview of the role of aquaculture in the education of our youth, and how technology has increased the quality of such an educational experience for students involved in research projects.

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