Grant: College and Community Innovation Program - Entry Level

Lethbridge College is a strategic centre for technological learning that serves over 15,000 credit and non-credit students in more than 50 diverse career areas. A leader in sustainable energy and ecology, Lethbridge College has established expertise in the areas of aquaponics, aquaculture, sustainable buildings, and wind energy technologies. Accordingly, Lethbridge College has recognized that regional and global concern over existing supplies of fresh water and energy, coupled with subsequent strains on agricultural production, is an intensifying and complex problem for which few practical solutions exist. However, through the integration of greenhouse culture and aquaculture into an enclosed recirculating aquaponics system, Lethbridge College has helped to develop an intriguing resolution that not only allows for the year-round production of fish protein, but plant production at a significantly higher rate than traditional hydroponics or soil-based methods. As a result, the commercial greenhouse industry has recently begun to adopt recirculation aquaponics as a viable method to increase production and profits. Building on ten years of experience in aquaponics and at the direct request of industry, Lethbridge College will use NSERC funding to assist commercial aquaponics producers to optimize their systems and to existing and potential technical and policy issues such as organic certification and pest management. Moreover, Lethbridge College will investigate the use of higher value fish species and their suitability for aquaponics through the use of experimental aquaponics minisystems. Such activities have the potential to further establish aquaponics as a secure method of commercial food production while increasing efficiency and profitability. This program will also generate innovation as existing aquaponics technologies and practices are adapted to meet the needs of current and potential producers in the region, across Canada, and internationally.