Survey of Aquaponics in Europe

Abstract

Abstract:International aquaponic production has increased over the past decade, but less is known about research activities and production facilities operating in Europe. We conducted an online survey to get a better idea about research and production in Europe, focusing on five areas of aquaponics (i.e., demographics, facilities used, fish and crops produced, funding sources, and personal or company priorities for further development). The 68 respondents were distributed among 21 European countries, 43% were working at a university, and 19% were commercial producers. Only 11.8% of those surveyed had sold fish or plants in the past 12 months. Most respondents were male (66.2%) and had a post-graduate degree (91.7%). Facilities were generally new (74.5% constructed after 2010) and self-designed. Production figures were modest, with less than 10 respondents producing more than 1000 kg of fish or plants per year (mostly tilapia or catfish and herbs or lettuce). Systems were often funded by government grants (35.3%). The great majority of respondents (80.4%) stated that aquaponics was not their main source of income. Most respondents prioritized using aquaponics for educational purposes, while few (25%) used it to produce their own food or improve their health. Questions related to personal knowledge about aquaponics underlined the need for more training about fish diseases and plant pests.

Economically viable aquaponics? Identifying the gap between potential and current uncertainties

“…) and a survey of European growers in which only 11.8% of the commercial growers sold fish or plants and made a profit (Villarroel et al . ). These findings can be partly attributed to the immaturity of the industry, reflected in the fact that only 13% of the systems were more than 8 years of age at the time of the survey.…”

“…; Villarroel et al . ). In the USA, there has been a rise in the number of aquaponic businesses in recent years, although for most growers they are not considered financially sustainable (Engle ; Love et al .…”

Opportunities and Challenges of Multi-Loop Aquaponic Systems

“…Their survey shows that only one-third of the respondents made profit in the previous year, even though similar growth rates to hydroponics can be expected in one-loop aquaponic systems Knaus and Palm, 2017). This could be explained by the fact that approximately three-quarters of the production systems are self-built and do not meet the scale of most industrial hydroponic systems (Villarroel et al 2016). …”

“…In a quantitative study of European consumers, they showed that most respondents had a positive perception of aquaponic products based on the fact they would be free of antibiotics, pesticides and herbicides. Another recent quantitative study by Villarroel et al (2016) attempted to get better insight into aquaponics as a developing field, both commercially and scientifically within Europe. In their survey, only 11.8% of the 68 respondents sold aquaponic products in the past 12 months, indicating that commercial activities are still limited in this field.…”

“…Data from several studies have also showed that aquaponic systems perform well in both water and resource usage (Reyes Lastiri et al, 2016;Suhl et al, 2016). Its lack of the ability to provide optimal conditions for both fish and plants is most likely the main reason, why it is currently mainly being used for educational purposes (Villarroel et al, 2016). The commercial breakthrough is still outstanding (dos Santos, 2016;.…”