Northern Aqua Farms Book Store

Find fish farming books, manuals and other useful reference information

Sometimes finding what you are looking for on the internet can get to be time consuming or even a bit frustrating at times. I have experienced the same feelings when searching for good reference books and I often thought that it would be nice to be able to easily narrow down my effort and get more relative results, would help.

I few years ago I put together a book review showcase on Aquaculture and Aquaponics, that a lot of people liked, visited and used  frequently. Due to personal time reasons and other work commitments I didnt have time to update it very often. Good news, its now back and hopefully improved! Take a Peek at our Bookstore.

The new book store pages are still in conjunction with Amazon.com. I feel that it is a good resource to help make you search for aquaculture and aquaponics books that are the most relative to the subjects, easier to find, browse and review.

Press This Link To Visit the Northern Aqua Farms Aquaculture Book Store

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Northern Aqua Farms

NorthernAquaFarms.Com is a source for informative content and resources concerning Aquaculture, Aqua Farming, the environment, fish and seafood. We feature general information pages, fresh daily news items, special industry articles, a book store, a resource directory and other resources.

The goal of this website is to provide useful online resources to industry visitors and the general public. Many of our visitors are interested in cottage industry farm initiatives, urban agriculture, family run farms and/or practical integration of Aquaculture with other agriculture activities. Other readers have a general interest in the industry or seek information concerning fish farming, seafood products and related topics. Whatever your reason for visiting we hope that you find this website helpful.

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Fourth Annual New Mexico Food and Farms Day Scheduled for Wednesday February 3 in Santa Fe

The New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council invites you to the Fourth Annual New Mexico Food and Farms Day at the State Capital.  The event is held in conjunction with  New Mexico School Nutrition Day, Cooking With Kids Day and the New Mexico Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Day at the Legislature.

"New Mexico has a vibrant food and farming culture that is significant to our rural economy and provides employment opportunities on farm; in direct, wholesale, and retail opportunities; in food processing, distribution, value-added businesses," said Pam Roy, coordinator of the NMFAC and Farm to Table.

"As a broad based group of partners and participants, were highlighting the Farm to School movement in New Mexico and the many schools that buy fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers, school food service who care about providing meals with New Mexico grown produce, and most important, students who learn to incorporate fresh produce in their diets and enjoy experiential learning through programs like Cooking with Kids, Kids Cook, school gardens and more," added Roy. "Our children have the opportunity to enjoy New Mexico grown fresh fruits and vegetables in school meals and snack programs."

The day will include:
8:00 - 9:00am
Education Through Advocacy, room 324 at the State Capital - Participants will get a brief overview of the New Mexico legislative process before launching into a morning of fast paced activities. By Invite Only

8:30 - 11:00am
In the East Wing of the Capital (next to the Rotunda), organizations and agencies will share information and educate the public about their programs and their relationship to each other and the goals and purpose of the Day and beyond.

9:00 - 9:45am
Celebrate the 1st Annual Farm to School Award Ceremony and Press Conference. At the Rotunda, this special awards ceremony will recognize key individuals and their organizations for their work in creating educational programs in schools for children to learn about the world of food and gardening; food service and food entrepreneurs who have, through innovation and policy, changed the rules to be able to partner with local farmers to buy the freshest local produce for school meals; and, farmers who have been on the front lines for change by building partnerships with schools to purchase locally grown produce and paving the path for others. This will be the first on many occasions to honor leaders, risk takers, innovators, and believers.

10:00 - 12 noon
The New Mexico Legislature will honor New Mexico Food ad Farms Day, New Mexico School Nutrition Day, and Cooking with Kids Day in both the House and Senate Chambers. Policymakers will highlight the importance of these events and most importantly will recognize individuals and organizations for their efforts in building an important aspect of food, farming, and health initiatives in New Mexico.

12:30 - 3:00pm
Round Table celebration, discussion, and next steps by all of the groups and individuals involved. We ask ourselves what we learned, how it builds relationships and coordination, and what we commit to doing moving forward. Our discussion includes providing lunch. Venue TBD (more information forthcoming)

The organizations joining in the celebration include: New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council, Farm to Table, New Mexico School Nutrition Association, Siete Del Norte, Cooking with Kids, Mid Rio Grande Council of Governments, New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service, New Mexico Dietetics Association, New Mexico Farmers Marketing Association, Santa Fe Food Policy Council, FoodCorps, Community Outreach Patient Empowerment (COPE - a Navajo Nation Coalition and youth group NCHO), Dine Food Sovereignty Alliance, and more.

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Family Farms Sustainable Aquaculture

Much of what we read in the mainstream media today, concerning Aquaculture and the issues of sustainability is generally focused upon large scale farming activities. Without arguing the pro’s and con’s of large scale aqua farms (that’s a topic for another discussion) I feel the need to point out that small scale family farming or even subsistent aquaculture activities are often overlooked by the media.

Perhaps practicing aquaculture to diversify the survival opportunity available to the family farm or farming fish to create food to eat isn’t as newsworthy or as "sensational" a debate as the debates of “corporate farming, versus “eat wild fish” campaigns are. None the less, Aqua Farming as a way of life is beyond a shadow of a doubt important in many cultures and many countries, and has been for centuries.

Aqua farming has for many centuries played an important role in the continuation of family owned farms or small scale enterprises in many parts of the world. In numerous cultures fish farming has made an important contribution to ensuring the continual supply of wholesome food for thousands of families and communities. Indeed a great portion of the present day farmed fish production is still undertaken to supplement food supplies.

In developing countries and/or low-income food-deficit countries aquaculture has been growing steadily at an average rate of about 10 percent per year since 1970. Why? Fish farming has been practiced for thousands of years as a means of reducing the time and effort associated with hunting food. Much of todays farming activity is still taking place in the same areas as it was 1000’ s of years ago.

Aqua farming continues to reduce the reliance on the hunting and gathering of aquatic creatures and plants. Perhaps there is a message in this, considering that the FAO estimates that the cost of catching fish in the wild, on a global basis, is about 25% higher than the value of the catch.

Contary to mainstream belief the majority of the world’s aqua farmers, do not attempt to by pass the rules of nature, they seek to enhance them. It has been long realized and understood that without enhancement or farm production many of the world’s fish populations would have already succumbed to our demands.

Fish farming is based upon a similar need and demand, that brought about the reasoning behind the farming of any plant or animal. In simple terms farming came to pass because the the food supply and the requirements to support us were out of balance. Humankind couldn’t hunt enough food so we realized that some of that food had to be grown.

Today we know for certain that the wild fish stocks cannot support the food demand placed upon them, thus mankind has been negated to enhance our fish resources.

Like it or not, it is a fact of life, most of the controversy surrounding fish farming doesn’t have a terrible amount of importance to the person that grows fish to eat, nor the person that has witnessed a collapse of a wild fishery that was their traditional family livelihood.

Catching wild stocks without giving anything back is called fishing without regard! The sum of which doesn’t compute. Keep fishing , cross you fingers that the fish will come back.

Catch what we can, then sell the catch. Just how is that more sustainable than families growing fish to eat? Or the small farmer that serves a fresh product to local customers?

If the world relied upon wild fish stocks alone, we would have been responsible for eliminating most fish stocks 10 – 20- years ago.

Family farming of fish is a positive answer to the concerns and issues of sustainability.

We only need to look at small farms that raise fish as an alternative crop in a land based farm. Many use aquaponics where the waste nutrients produced by the fish is used to grow other crops without using chemical fertilizers. Then we can begin to understand that Aquaculture is and can be a much different activity than what we read about in the mainstream media.

Look at a family farm operated by people that want to keep their land and want to be proud in delivering a quality product. You’ll find that many have a near zero impact upon the environment

Many family farms today have been started and continue on the same principles, and yes they survive. They just dont make the waves of media.

Aquaculture Information Website

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An Action Plan for Healthier Farms and People in New Mexico

New Mexico faces a stark paradox: ranking close to the top of the list in food insecurity and child and senior hunger, while about one-quarter of our population suffers from obesity and numerous diet-related chronic diseases. Public meal programs are critical opportunities for addressing the health and well-being of New Mexicans and there is real promise for those fruits and vegetables to be provided by New Mexico growers. -from The Power of Public Procurement: An Action Plan for Healthier Farms and People in New Mexico,September 2014

Cover: Seed Art Mural, Bernalillo County Youth Detention Center
Photo Courtesy of: Jade Leyva, Curator for SEEDS:A Collective Voice Multimedia
Exhibits, Community Seed Mural Projects Co-Artist & Coordinator

Over the past week we published blog posts on the links between health and hunger from the Bread for the World Institute, New Mexico Voices for Children and and First Choice Community Health Care. An important aspect of providing healthy food to the population, particularly low-income communities, is to ensure that fruits and vegetables are available at affordable levels. The produce does not need to be trucked from California. Rather, there is an abundance locally.

A little more than a year ago (in September 2014), Farm to Table and New Mexico State University (via the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business, the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences and half a dozen agricultural extension offices) published a report that attempts to identify and understand the potential and current barriers that New Mexico farmers and New Mexico’s public institutions face when trying to sell and purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables for their respective meal programs.

The report, entitled The Power of Public Procurement: An Action Plan for Healthier Farms and People in New Mexico, recognizes that a potentially significant market exists for the sale of New Mexico grown produce to the State’s public institutions. This is particularly true for the school districts’ food service programs.

"A large, and until recently, untapped, commercial exchange may be fostered between fruit and vegetable growers and the public officials who administer the procure-ment systems of public institutions," researchers said in the executive summary of the report. "Yet, practicalities and barriers currently impede the process."

The authors of the report make a number of recommendations at various agency and inter-agency levels, placing a strong emphasis on schools, but also on senior centers, state corrections institutions, and farming and agriculture.  Read the executive summary and the full report.

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