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Aquaculture as a Solution to Droughts

Article  in  World Aquaculture · December 2019

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Yoram Avnimelech Amir Neori

Technion - Israel Institute of Technology University of Haifa-Leon Charney School of Marine Sciences
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 Aquaculture as a
Solution to Droughts
Yoram Avnimelech, George Chamberlain, Amir Neori, Sherif Sadek and Marc Verdegem

H uman subsistence in arid million people and destruction of

or semi-arid desert regions depends the country’s infrastructure.
on the water supply. This is espe- Similar developments take
cially true for farmers practicing place presently or are expected
dryland farming. Typically these to take place in the near future
farmers sow seeds of barley, wheat in other countries in the area.
or other basic grains in the begin- Iran, with more than 80 million
ning of the rainy season. If rain is inhabitants, mostly farmers, is in a
sufficient (>200-400 mm), grains similar situation. Rainfall does not
are harvested following the rainy provide the needed surface water
season and stored to be used as and groundwater is overdrawn,
food in the months to follow. Crop leading to the lowering of aquifer
FIGURE 1. Annual precipitation at Maragha, northern Syria, from
residues and weeds growing in levels. In areas near Teheran,
1996 to 2010.
non-arable fields are used as forage groundwater depletion has led
to feed cows and sheep, providing to massive soil subsidence. An
the farmer and his family with even worse situation has occurred
meat and milk as important sourc- in the Kingdom of Jordan. The
es of animal protein. However, in water supply to Iraq is threatened
years when rainfall is less than the mostly by construction of the
minimum to provide for growth of huge Atatürk Dam (and other
the agricultural crops and pasture, dams) in Turkey, itself suffering
yield may not be enough to support desertification, affecting water flow
subsistence needs of the family. in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers,
This is especially true when a se- the critical water arteries supplying
ries of droughts takes place. In such water to the country.
years we can see skinny farm ani- The situation in the countries
mals, dying from hunger and thirst. FIGURE 2. Severe droughts take a heavy toll on livestock, deeply around the Nile River watershed,
As a result of global climate affecting the food security of those dependent on these important with a population of about 430
change, sequences of dry years sources of animal protein. million people, is very complicated
are more common than before, and dangerous. The Nile River is the
leading to critical geopolitical Global climate change threatens major and almost sole source of water to
developments. Thomas Friedman to lead to further sequences of drought Sudan and Egypt. However, conditions
of the New York Times followed in the already arid and semi-arid regions have changed due to population
the effects of droughts on political of the world and threatens the growth, water demands of countries
instability and the civil war in well-being and livelihoods of hundreds in the upstream parts of the Nile River
Syria (Friedman 2013, 2017). The of millions of people living in these watershed and global climate change.
economy of Syria is predominantly regions. We cannot heal global climate Many dams have been constructed
based on agriculture, mostly dryland change within the near future but we in this region, including the huge
farming. When sequences of dry can and should use all possible means to Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that
years took place since 2005 (Fig. minimize the dangers of water deficiency. is being constructed and will hold about
1), the farmers lost their sources 70 km3 water. Upon filling the dam, it
of subsistence food, could not feed their families and had to look for is assumed that millions of Egyptian farmers and their families will
help. A massive migration of farmers and their families fleeing from struggle to survive.
their villages to cities took place. About a million such refugees went Global climate change threatens to lead to further sequences of
to Damascus looking for food, work and shelter. Many more fled to drought in the already arid and semi-arid regions of the world and
other cities and towns. The presence of refugees looking for essential threatens the well-being and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of
life support, trying to get it formally or informally, caused a breakdown people living in these regions. We cannot heal global climate change
of social order, led to a political upset and finally was a major factor within the near future but we can and should use all possible means
leading to the Syrian civil war and the death of more than half a (TEXT CONTINUED ON PAGE 56)

W W W.WA S .O R G • W O R L D A Q UACU LT U R E • D E C E M B E R 2 019 55

 TABLE 1. Estimated pond water losses (evaporation + infiltration) per kg fish produced as a function of
production intensity.

Production rate (t/ha*yr) 1 10 100 1000

Water losses (L/kg) 35,000 3,500 350 35

to increase water extraction and to Counterintuitively, aquaculture has the Fresh water is needed to produce
raise water use efficiency to minimize potential of providing animal protein in some of the plant ingredients of fish
the dangers of water deficiency. The dry regions. Production of fish as a basic feed. The amount of water invested in
technological means to do this, such source of protein to population of dry feed ingredients depends on the type of
as wider use of efficient irrigation regions is a viable alternative, especially animal produced (fish, shrimp) and the
methods, wastewater recycling, so as under series of droughts induced specific way plant crops are produced,
collecting drainage and flash-flood by climate change. With greater intensity, but approximately 3 m3 water is used
water as well as improved low-cost water consumption can be reduced to produce the feed ingredients needed
desalinization technologies, are tremendously. With proper technology to produce 1 kg fish (Verdegem et al.
within our reach. Proper development and selection of fish, it is possible to 2006).
of aquaculture is one of the important produce fish at a water efficiency of about In addition to indirect water
activities in this direction. 100 L/kg or less as compared to much consumption, feed is a major part of the
A major protein source to higher consumption with conventional total expenses involved and, in most
populations living in dry areas are aquaculture or conventional terrestrial cases, this fraction of the expenses
livestock, mostly cows and sheep, the livestock production. is the main factor that determines
existence of which depends on forage the feasibility of growing animals
that grows yearly if rain is sufficient. However, in droughts, and under variable sets of conditions. The cost of production is critical
even more during repeated droughts, rainfed pasture is not there to to aquaculture development, especially so in dry regions. The Feed
support the animals and there are not enough water impoundments Conversion Ratio (FCR) is the term defining the weight of feed in
to supply drinking water to the cattle. Such conditions lead to animal production (not considering the specific cost for different
massive mortality of cattle (Fig. 2) and a severe lack of animal feeds). Animals that live in water float in the water rather than
protein for subsistence farmers. spending energy to withstand gravity, do not spend energy to control
Counterintuitively, aquaculture has the potential of providing body temperature to be different than the environmental temperature,
animal protein in dry regions. Aquaculture of fish in ponds seems and therefore need less energy than terrestrial livestock that must
to require large volumes of water for production, mostly from losses expend energy to counter the forces of gravity and to maintain a
by evaporation, infiltration or drainage. On average, evaporation constant body temperature. Thus, FCR in aquaculture is usually lower
and infiltration water losses from ponds are about 3.5 m/yr than that of terrestrial farm animals (Fry et al. 2017), being 6.0-10,
(Verdegem et al. 2006). In deserts, the yearly potential evaporation 2.7-5 for cattle and pigs, respectively. Poultry grown for meat has an
from ponds can reach 2-3 m/yr. For annual fish production of FCR of 1.7-2.0 because of effective genetic selection and holding of the
about 1 t/ha, as is common with many extensive ponds, water animals in enclosed temperature-controlled cages.
consumption is 35 m3/kg fish, a vast amount of water that cannot Additionally, the pond system can be used in some cases to
be obtained under arid conditions; however, with greater intensity, produce natural feed from waste products, either waste materials
water consumption can be reduced tremendously (Table 1). produced in the pond itself or external waste materials such as home
A production level of about 1 t/ha-yr is quite common but a feed residues. Other organic materials can be metabolized by the
production level of 100-1000 t/ha-yr is achievable in biofloc ponds pond biota to produce microbial biomass (biofloc) and zooplankton
or in recirculating systems. Investing less than 100 L of possibly (copepods and others) that can provide a portion of the feed supplied to
low-quality water to obtain 1 kg fish (0.1 m3/kg) is feasible, even the fish and reduce the requirement for manufactured feed.
under arid conditions. Intensified production leads to water saving
when the production takes place in limited and possibly zero water Conclusions
exchange systems. Examples include biofloc technology (BFT; Production of fish as a basic source of protein to population of dry
Avnimelech 2015) or recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS; regions is a viable alternative, especially so as under series of droughts
Timmons and Ebeling 2007) or aquaponics (Rakocy et al. 2016, induced by climate change. With proper technology and selection of
Kotzen et al. 2019). With aquaponics, nutrient-laden water from the fish, it is possible to produce fish at a water efficiency of about 100 L/
fish tank is recycled through the root-zone of a hydroponics plant kg or less as compared to much higher consumption with conventional
plot, where nutrients are taken up by the plant and filtered by the aquaculture or conventional terrestrial livestock production. However,
media. The purified water returns to the production tank. Each of there is a need for further developments, adaptation, training and
these intensive systems has benefits and costs and can be adapted to guidance. We need to adapt the presently known technologies to
conditions in different countries. conditions suitable to the different regions where arid-land aquaculture

56 D E C E M B E R 2 019 • W O R L D A Q UACU LT U R E • W W W.WA S .O R G

is needed. We also need to select the fish species and strains that will
be suitable to properly grow in the above-mentioned systems and
yet to be also well-adapted to the specific traditions and preferences
of local populations. It is also possible to find waste materials (or
accompanying organisms such as aquatic plants, insects attracted
to the water or suitable zooplankton) to be used as a cheap locally
produced feed additives. And finally, there is a need to provide proper
training, providing literature and other modes of information to fish
farmers.
Notes
Yoram Avnimelech, Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Technion, Israel Inst. of Technology, Haifa, Israel agyoram@
technion.ac.il
George Chamberlain, President, Global Aquaculture Alliance.
george.chamberlain@aquaculturealliance.org
Amir Neori, Leon Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of
Haifa, Israel, aneori@univ.haifa.ac.il
Sherif Sadek President, African Chapter, WAS. sadek_egypt35@
hotmail.com
Marc Verdegem, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Department of Animal
Sciences, Wageningen University and Research
marc.verdegem@wur.nl
1
US weather service data for Tucson, AZ and Mojave Desert, CA,
Negev Desert, Israel.
References
Avnimelech, Y. 2015. Biofloc Technology - A Practical Guidebook,
Third Edition. The World Aquaculture Society, Baton Rouge, LA.
USA.
Friedman, T. 2013. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/
sunday/friedman-without-water-revolution.html
Friedman, T. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i31v1z--3Z8
Fry, J.P., N.A. Mailloux, D.C. Love, C.M. Milli and C. Ling. 2018.
Feed conversion efficiency in aquaculture: Do we measure it
correctly. Environmental. Research Letters 13:024017.
Kotzen, B., M.G.C. Emerenciano, N. Moheimani and G.M.
Burnell. 2019. Aquaponics: Alternative Types and Approaches.
In: Goddek, S., A. Joyce, B., Kotzen and G. Burnell,
editors. Aquaponics Food Production Systems. https://doi.
org/10.1007/978-3-030-15943-6_12.
Rakocy, J., M.P. Masser and T. Losordo. 2016. Recirculating
aquaculture tank production systems: aquaponics – integrating
fish and plant culture. SRAC Publication No. 454, Southern
Regional Aquaculture Center, Stoneville, MS, USA.
Timmons M.B. and J.M. Ebeling. 2007. Recirculating Aquaculture
Systems, Second Edition, Cayuga Aqua Ventures, Ithaca, NY
USA
Verdegem, M.C.J., R.H. Bosma and J.A.V. Verreth. 2006. Reducing
water use for animal production through aquaculture. Water
Resources Development 22(1):101-113.

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