1. Aquaculture, Aquaponics and Tutoring Urban Students with Tilapia
Steven G. Hughes
Aquaculture Research and Education Laboratory
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

2. The Aquaculture Research and Education Laboratory
The Aquaculture Research Education Laboratory of Cheyney University – (AREL) is designed to meet the education, extension, and research needs of this region and its critical waterways. Though the development of an urban aquaculture program in this region is its primary focus, projects and course work involving aspects of marine and freshwater biology and ecology, and aquatic animal biology also provide part of the program’s foundation

3. Constraints On Urban Aquaculture and Aquaponics
Limited Water Resources
Limited Space
Need High Return On Dollars Invested
Need To Control Environment
If You Are Teaching In This Area, Need To Recognize Who Comprises Your Student Base

4. Objectives for this Presentation
What’s Different About the Urban Student?
What’s Different About Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics to this Group?
What Are We Trying to Accomplish when Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics to this Group?
The Business Example

5. What’s Different About the Student?
As a rule, this group has limited experience with the aquatic environment and their educational experience is not geared to the “Natural” environment.

6. What’s Different About the Student?
Many of these students have very limited travel experience.
Maybe even less experience with food diversity

7. What’s Different About the Student?
These students may have a limited understanding of the husbandry sciences and how they relate to animal/food production and everyday life.

8. What’s Different About Aquaculture and Aquaponics for this Group?
The first problem is:
WHAT ARE AQUACULTURE
AND AQUAPONICS?!!!

9. History of Aquaculture and Aquaponics
These husbandry sciences have been a part of agriculture for over 3,000 years in China and Egypt

10. What’s Different About Aquaculture and Aquaponics for this Group?
There is a need to explain the differences and similarities between
“Aqua” Culture vs. “Aquarium” Culture
“Aquaponics” vs. “Hydroponics”

11. BASIC SYSTEM FUNCTION: AQUAPONICS
Fish Feed
Fish Growth
Fish Waste
Microbial Growth
Plant Growth

12. BASIC SYSTEM DESIGN

13. RANGE OF SIZES

14. What’s Different About Aquaculture and Aquaponics for this Group?
The “jargon” of aquatic culture is truly foreign and needs to be “translated” to be meaningful.
Some examples:
Biological Filtration
Deep Water and Shallow Water Culture
Hybrids and Triploids
Floating Rafts
Spawning
Germination

15. What’s Different About Aquaculture and Aquaponics for this Group?
Lastly, little or no understanding of the challenges associated with living in an aquatic environment.
Some Examples:
Oxygen and gas transfer rates
Temperature optima
Osmoregulation
Buoyancy
Root physiology

16. So What Are We Trying to Accomplish by Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics?
Get the students excited about aquaculture – the “Ooh-Ahh” Factor.
Trying to re-establish the “Man-Nature” connection.
Re-establish a connection to agriculture.
Put a practical application to learning in the classroom

17. So What Are We Trying to Accomplish by Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics?
Create Professional Development Opportunities for Our Teachers
Expand their knowledge of science
Add sustainability projects to the classroom
Opportunities for research
Opportunities for public outreach

18. So What Are We Trying to Accomplish by Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics?
Expanding Use of Technology
Monitoring devices
Computer software integration
Distance learning and the creation of virtual networks
Understanding filtration technologies

19. So What Are We Trying to Accomplish by Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics?
Bringing Living Organisms into the Classroom Environment
Better understanding of how man impacts our planet
Development of responsibility and caring
Better understanding of how each organism can support symbiotic relationships

20. So What Are We Trying to Accomplish by Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics?
Teaching Across Curricula.
Math and science (particularly biology and chemistry)
Consumer and business skills (sales, business management, marketing, and economics)
Social sciences and history
Community structure and redevelopment

21. So What Are We Trying to Accomplish by Teaching Aquaculture and Aquaponics?
Establish a practical understanding and use of basic knowledge.
Math and science (particularly biology and chemistry)
Consumer and business skills (sales, business management, marketing, and economics)
Better understanding of how man impacts our planet
Development of responsibility and caring

22. The Business Example
Aquaculture development in the U.S. takes many forms ranging from the intensive culture of food fish species to the extensive culture of plants and shellfish.
For 2010, USDA-NASS estimated U.S. Aquaculture had about 4300 “farms” and over $1billion in sales
Of this, about 360 operations raised ornamental fish (about 8.4%) and had over $51 million in sales ( about 5.1%)
Most of these sales came from Florida ($33 million) and Arkansas ($3 million), but Pennsylvania was third ($1 million)

23. The Business Example
We can see that one area that is often ignored, but can be very profitable, is the intensive culture of ornamental species for the aquarium trade.
One problem with this area of aquaculture is that much of the information on the commercial culture of these species remains anecdotal or the data is not related to the intensive commercial production of the species.
If more data were available on the economics of production for these species, there might develop a greater interest in using small scale commercial production as the basis for supplemental income.

24. The Business Example The Economic “Weight” Of Ornamental Fish
Tilapia Weighing 1 lb Sells For
$1.25/lb Wholesale
½ - ¾” Corydoras aneus Weighing 2 g Will
Sell For About $0.60 Each or $136/lb !!
Also consider facility costs, feed costs, time of rearing, etc.

25. A Terrible Rewrite
Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for a day. But teach a man to raise fish, and you have not only fed him for life, but you have begun to teach him his place in the world.

26. Thank You!!!! Steven G. Hughes, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology and Director
Aquaculture Research and Education Laboratory
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Box 200
Cheyney, PA 19319
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