If you are reading this you are most likely a fish nerd or enthusiast like me; based on that I am assuming you care about the well-being of our wild fish and conserving what species we have now. I love fish—especially looking out for them. My name is George Blueman and I have a PHD in freshwater fish conservation. I have spent countless hours doing field research as well as habitat surveys all over the country. I have one single mission: to save my fish buddies. My goal is to try to find better ways to sustainably harvest fish in order to preserve the species diversity present now for future generations. The first step to this is the educate the public which is why I am making this blog post in the first place. To say our wild fish stocks are in trouble is an understatement and something needs to be done to help out our fellow fish friends.
The future of the world’s wild fish stocks is in grave danger. Humans have been waging war against fish from the dawn of time and we are winning due to how far our technology has come. Our methods of locating and capturing fish have become so advanced that our fish have no chance of avoiding the dinner plate. To say we are now shooting fish in a barrel would be an understatement. Everyday the ocean is prowled with boats the size of warships scooping up any life to fill our dinner plates. If we are going to have fish in the future something must be done to take the pressure off wild fish stocks. This is why fish farming could be the solution that we are looking for. Fish farming involves growing fish in an artificial setting such as a pond or tank in order to be harvested for fish products. With fish being hatched and grown in an artificial system we will no longer have to seek wild fish for the high demand. Fish farming is the solution to our depleting natural fish stocks and if implemented in higher numbers could save our doomed fish.
Farmin’ Fishes is a fish farm located in Roanoke Virginia that shares this goal of minimizing human influence on wild fish stocks by growing them in an artificial setting for the purpose of consumption. I visited this farm in January 2018, and I was lucky enough to see first-hand all the different species of fish they are farming such as trout, largemouth bass, catfish, and even decorative koi fish. They had great facilities with state of the art ponds and filtration systems. Companies like Farmin’ Fishes are the future and the only hope for our wild fish stocks. I encourage anyone looking for fresh fish to eat, stock, or keep as pets to check out Farmin’ Fishes or any other fish farm when making your next fish related purchase. If you want to eat fish in the future than fish farms are our only sustainable option and giving them our business will allow them to out compete the commercial fishing decimating wild fish stocks.
Figure 1 – Koi pond mentioned in post
“Maintain the Clean and Healthy Water Demanded by Your Koi and Goldfish.” Fish and Koi Ponds , Nualgi Ponds , nualgiponds.com/project/koi-ponds/.
Farming Fishes 