Advances may make fish farming a healthy prospect, even for inner cities

Science News, May 13, 2000 by Janet Raloff

Although the federal government has been funding research into recirculating aquaculture for 30 years, Flick cautions that "it's still a new and developing science"--one with plenty of kinks to work out.

"We have tended to fund research on individual components," McVey says, like a new filter or better fish food. "Now, we need to see what it takes to integrate all of these into standardized systems" that prove reliable and affordable on the farm or in the city. Where these systems finally take off and when, he says, "will, in the end, all come down to economics."