As you know, aquaponics has all sorts of potential to benefit society and our environment. At the same time, the practice of aquaponics has the potential to contribute to the risk of fish disease and proliferation of invasive species that may threaten commercial aquaculture and natural resources. In California, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is considering how to minimize those risks while promoting the beneficial aspects of aquaponics. One aspect of that effort involves developing appropriate regulations for the practice of aquaponics. A group of aquaponics practitioners, state agency personnel, and academic personnel, together comprising the Aquaponics Subcommittee (APS) of the Aquaculture Development Committee (ADC) that advises the CDFW’s Aquaculture Coordinator, has come up with an initial proposal for regulation of aquaponics in California. The ADC wants input on the proposal from the aquaponics community between now and their next meeting on January 8, 2015, at which time they plan to discuss the proposal and any input received. A number of members of the aquaponics community, including myself, have volunteered to solicit input from aquaponics folks.

The initial proposal is posted at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing. However, I think a discussion of terminology is necessary before you read it. The proposal makes a significant distinction between aquaponics operations that sell fish and those that do not. Unfortunately, the proposal uses the terms “commercial” and “non-commercial” to describe those two different categories, which is potentially confusing because an aquaponics operation that sells only vegetables and does not sell fish would be categorized as non-commercial in this context, even though in any other context, it would be considered commercial. So, I have taken the liberty of inserting the alternate terms “fish-selling” and “non-fish-selling” into the text of the proposal below.

Similarly, at one point the proposal describes an aquaponics operation that “produces” fish. “Produces” could be interpreted to mean a breeding operation to produce fry/fingerlings/juveniles, but according to the APS member who submitted the proposal, that is not the intended meaning. As such, I have taken the liberty of inserting the alternate term “utilizes,” which is more accurate.

PLEASE READ AND THINK ABOUT THE PROPOSAL AND SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS BY DECEMBER 31, 2014. You can submit your comments by posting a reply on this forum, or you can send comments directly to me at joezbro@gmail.com. I will forward all comments received by December 31 to the APS prior to their January 8 meeting. Feel free to contact me with any questions as well.

Paul

Paul Trudeau
Southside Aquaponic Farm
Sacramento
916-533-5268 mobile

PS: If you are a member of a local group on this forum, please notify your group members of this issue and direct them to the discussion posted here, as opposed to re-posting this announcement or the proposal in your own local group - I think it will be less confusing to have this single central thread where people comment. Thank you.