Located on the Connecticut River, more than 80 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Turners Falls, Massachusetts is an unlikely setting to rear a seagoing fish. But that is precisely what Josh Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Australis Aquaculture, is doing, using some of the most sustainable aquaculture techniques in existence today.
In its Massachusetts location, Goldman’s company annually raises about 1.2 million barramundi, an Australian fish that spawns in saltwater, lives much of its life in freshwater, and is uniquely suited to fish farming. But it’s the way that Australis raises its fish that has won it acclaim — growing the barramundi in low-density concentrations in indoor fish pens, continually recycling the water and collecting virtually all of the fishes’ waste for fertilizer, and producing a moderately priced, white-fleshed fish sold in many U.S. grocery chains and higher-end restaurants.
In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Goldman discusses the technology behind his aquaculture operations in the U.S. and Vietnam and the challenges that global aquaculture must meet in the coming decades if it hopes to sustainably produce the majority of the world’s seafood. “Market-based initiatives can have a tremendous positive impact,” says Goldman, “and the combination of the right species and the right farming methodology will allow aquaculture to really be a very ecologically efficient part of the global food system.”