When Blue is Green: Sustainable Blue Food Systems Driven by Integrated Aquaponics

WHEN BLUE IS GREEN: SUSTAINABLE BLUE FOOD SYSTEMS DRIVEN BY INTEGRATED AQUAPONICS

Sponsoring Institution

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Project Status

NEW

Funding Source

AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT

Reporting Frequency

Annual

Accession No.

1029721

Grant No.

2023-68012-39001

Project No.

IND00126305G

Proposal No.

2022-07519

Multistate No.

(N/A)

Program Code

A9201

Project Start Date

Apr 1, 2023

Project End Date

Mar 31, 2028

Grant Year

2023

Project Director
Huang, J.

Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
Blue food (seafood) can provide more nutritional benefits and be produced more sustainably than land-based foods; however, approximately 90% of seafood consumed in the US comes from abroad, resulting in $17B trade deficit. Aquaponics intensively produces a diverse array of nutritious blue foods and specialty crops, but this emerging food production system faces intertwined technical, economic, and environmental challenges that are the main barriers to its wide adoption. The overarching hypotheses of this Purdue University-led project are: 1) Integrating aquaponics with microalgae cultivation, anaerobic digestion and biorefining can fully utilize nutrients and produce energy and high-value bioproducts; and, 2) Integrating research with extension and education will increase adoption of aquaponics and consumer willingness to purchase blue foods. Specific project objectives include: 1) Identifying barriers and opportunities for blue food and aquaponics; 2) Building a novel, integrated, aquaponics food production system; 3) Developing multi-dimensional sustainability metrics for system assessment and management; 4) Support aquaponics and blue food industry and market development; and, 5) Creating blue food-related education materials. This project is expected to build a zero-waste, grid-independent, and economically viable food production system, and generate an evidence-based vision and framework for facilitating the adoption of aquaponics. This novel integrated aquaponics system can increase local and regional production of adequate, nutritious, and affordable blue foods with a minimal environmental footprint, ultimately diversifying US agricultural systems and dietary patterns.

Animal Health Component

15%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

60%

Applied

40%

Developmental

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
307	3714	1060	25%
111	5330	2020	40%
601	6030	3010	20%
903	6099	3030	15%

Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery; 307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
5330 - Farm structures and related facilities; 6099 - People and communities, general/other; 6030 - The farm as an enterprise; 3714 - Tilapia;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 3010 - Economics; 3030 - Information and communication;

Keywords

Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of this Purdue University-led SAS project is to increase local and regional production of adequate, nutritious, and affordable blue foods with a minimal environmental footprint to ultimately diversify US agricultural systems and dietary patterns. Our transdisciplinary and cross-institutional team will implement an integrated approach to engage stakeholders across the blue food supply chains (BFSC) to: 1) evaluate and pilot azero-waste, grid-independent, and economically viable aquaponics system; and, 2) generate an evidence-based vision and framework for facilitating the adoption of aquaponics. We will drive local/regional BFSC with a novel integrated aquaponics FPS (IAFPS).Overall, our team will partner with stakeholders to drive the research agenda (Obj. 1) and our research insights (Obj. 2 & 3) will be translated through Extension programming to meet the diverse audience along the BFSC (Obj. 4) and through secondary and undergraduate education for the next generation (Obj. 5).Objective 1: Partner with diverse stakeholders to identify barriers and opportunities for blue foods and aquaponicsObjective 2: Design, construct, and evaluate a resilient and sustainable FPS that integrates aquaponics with microalgae cultivation, anaerobic digestion, and biorefining processesObjective 3: Assess economic and environmental performance of IAFPS and develop evidence-based management practices and business modelsObjective 4: Engage with stakeholders to support aquaponics and blue food market developmentObjective 5: Create, pilot, and publish education materials to foster a workforce prepared to support BFSC

Project Methods
The system we will consider is the local/regional blue food supply chains driven by a novel integrated aquaponics food productionsystem (FPS). The geographic core is the Midwestern US, the region that produces and consumes the least seafood. We define the system's scope to include the proposed aquaponics FPS and its surrounding environment and communities, producers, consumers, and other stakeholders in blue food supply chains. We will employ multiple methods for our integrated research (45%), extension (35%), and education (20%) activities, including needs assessment, onsite experiments, integrated modeling, market development, developments of iterative communication platforms, educational resources, and experimental learning labs. Our research work will pilot an integrated FPS that operates based on the circular economy concept, in which (i) algal culture subsystem can fully utilize nutrients in aquaponics wastes, and (ii) algae and aquaponics food byproducts are efficiently converted by the anaerobic digestion subsystem to meet the energy demands of aquaponics, and/or valorized with a biorefinery subsystem into high-value bioproducts. We will subsequentlyperform system-scale modeling to provide integrating insights across the new FPS's componentsto optimize its design and management for economic and environmental impacts and to inform development of sustainability metrics. Specific tasks will include: (1) Co-cultivation of microalgae in aquaponics, (2) Anaerobic co-digestion of algae and food byproducts, (3) Building a flexible biorefinery, (4) Nutrients and energy balance modeling, (5) Techno-economic analysis, (6) Life cycle assessment, and (7) Enterprise and whole-farm budgeting, multi-year simulation analysis, and aggregate market analysis. For our extension work, we will partner with our Extension Administration to select an across-the-Midwest working group of Extension Specialists and Educators, who represent our program areas (agricultural and natural resources, health and human sciences, economic development, and youth) and local community members familiar with local needs and resources. This group will be instrumental in advising and developing educational resources for the early adopters in their respective areas. Specific tasks will include: (1) Conduct needs assessment to identify barriers and opportunities for integrated aquaponics FPS to iteratively inform experiments; (2) Elicit determinants of consumer preference and willingness-to-pay for blue foods; (3) Develop audience-targeted workshops and e-resources to enhance producer knowledge of aquaponics financial planning, benefit-risk assessment, and marketing strategies; (4) Disseminate findings using contemporary web-based communication platforms. Our education work will include: (1) Develop resources and courses to prepare students for sustainable agriculture workforce and to facilitate multigenerational learning in communities; (2) Create experimental and multi-institutional aquaponics learning labs (onsite and virtual) for teachers and students; (3) Develop project-based teaching strategies and curricula for K-14 educators and engage teachers nationwide to amplify the project's impact.

Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience is stakeholders across the blue food supply chains in the Midwestern US, particularlyaquaponicfarmers, commercial and hobbyist producers.Highschool students and teachers, and college students and professors are also included. To reach our audience, we initially put out a press release through Purdue Universityentitled"$10 million USDA grant targets more Midwestern seafood production and consumption". Since our initial press release, 9 other outlets have picked up our story. Additionally, we have participated in 3 podcasts to introduceour project. To personally connect with our audience, we have launched our own website, and varioussocial media including Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts. We have also released a semiannualnewsletter. We have a total of 208followers across our platforms and our website has had 343 users since it was first published in October 2023 with a 63% engagement rate and an average 25-second engagement time. We have also conducted focus groups and interviews with aquaponic producers and educators in the 12th Annual Aquaponics Conference in Albuquerque, NM, in September 2023. Changes/Problems:This year in our project we had an issue ofcomplying with Purdue's marketing and communications policies so it took us additional~3 months tochangeour methods fordissemination of information, including website design and project promotion. In our initial set-up of our aquaponics systems, some manufacturing errors were causing a delay in the start of our experiments. Additionally, we have made a change to the publication site of our three educational chapters. We had initially stated we would be posting these chapters to a site called CK-12, we have since changed this to a Purdue-operated website where we will publish this work and ownthe copyrights of these materials. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Our project has hired 1 project manager, 2staff, 3postdoctoral research associates, and 10graduate students. 7of these team members have shared their research through presentations at conferences/meetingsand/or paper publications in scientific journals. In addition, our projecthas provided growth opportunities for seven undergraduate students who have acquired the knowledge and skills ofdaily operationsand monitoring of our pilot-scale aquaponic systemsand learned about a career in aquaculture/aquaponics. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have added materials to two graduate level courses. Five tours of our aquaponics and algae growing systems have been offeredfor educational and informative purposes. We have five journal publications. We have presented our project and project findings 16 times at local, reginal, national and international meetings. On Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter we have 83, 105 and 20 followers. We regulalrly post researchand education contents ontheseplatforms to engage stakeholders. Our Instagram videos have a total of 2.4k views. Our website has engaged 343 users with a63% engagement rate and an average 25-second engagement time since its publication in October 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: Partner with diverse stakeholders to identify barriers and opportunities for blue foods and aquaponics. In the coming year, we will officially confirm the members of our working group. We will begin conducting meetings with our working group and finding ways to apply their expertise. For our needs assessment, we will continue to conduct interviews and focus groups to identify barriers and opportunities in aquaponics. Objective 2: Design, construct, and evaluate a resilient and sustainable FPS that integrates aquaponics with microalgae cultivation, anaerobic digestion, and biorefining processes. In the coming year, our team will continue our aquaponic studies on lettuce growth. We will also modify the pilot-scale systems and evaluate the integration ofalgal culture into aquaponics.There will be batch and continuous treatments of the wastewater to achieve the best nutrient removal performance. We also plan to fabricate efficient electrochemical filters for contaminant removal and nutrient recovery. More experiments will be conducted next year to improve the anaerobic co-digestion of sludge from aquaculture and aquaponics with different feedstocks. New lab digesters will be built, and a semi-continuous digestion process will be used in the experiments. Graduate students will be working to carry out research on algal-manure digestion. Over the next year, we will also focus efforts on extracting compounds from algae. We will continue studying the effects of different cold plasma parameters on algal protein extraction. One undergrad student will be working during the 2024 summer in extracting phenolic compounds from microalgae and evaluating their antioxidant activity. A PhD grad student will apply different protein extraction techniques and protein hydrolysis to obtain bioactive peptides from microalgae. We will use in vitro analysis to determine bioactivity, followed by an in vivo model using C. elegans. In addition, one postdoc and two graduate students will be hired to explore other utilizaton pathyways of algal biomass andfish byproducts. Objective 3: Assess the economic and environmental performance of IAFPS and develop evidence-based management practices and business models. In the coming year, our team will apply thenutrients and energy balance model developedfor the system integrating aquaponics with algal cultivation and anaerobic digestion. A graduate student will be hired to assist in this work. We will also begin our cost analysis and whole-farm budgeting by collecting cost and set-up data from our systems. Our team will complete the enterprise budgeting with research-derived data collected from the various system designs outlined in Objective 2. We will also refine the developed LCA model using the experimental data from Objective2. Objective 4: Engage with stakeholders to support aquaponics and blue food market development. Our team will start exploring web-based options for disseminating information about aquaponics. We will also begin to gauge consumer preference and their willingness to pay for blue foods. We will begin with a selection of blue food attributes through an extensive review of the literature. Objective 5: Create, pilot, and publish education materials to foster a workforce prepared to support BFSC The evaluation instrument will be used in all classes in which project personnel are teaching aspects of the BiG project. This will help us gauge our impacts. Additionally, our youth activity drafts will be reviewed by teachers, pilot tested with our target audience (middle and high school students), revised, reviewed by teachers, edited, and then developed in Articulate Storyline (an online education platform). We will support instructors as they develop lectures for Objective 5A, implement survey assessing lectures, and we will analyze the data. The feedback provided will guide us to modify our courses accordingly.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Diet related obesity and chronic health issues are on the rise. There is a shift away from not just producing large amounts of food but also a range of nutritious foods while also using sustainable methods. Blue foods can address malnutrition in the US as well as support a lower environmental impact food system. The US imports 90% of seafood which is creating a 17-billion-dollar trade deficit. By increasing local and regional production of sea food we can address all three of these issues. Aquaponics has a high energy cost and generates considerable nutrient wastes which could be a barrier to farmers. The goal of the When Blue is Green Project is to increase Midwest local and regional production of adequate, nutritious, and affordable blue foods with a minimal environmental footprint. Ultimately, we would like to diversify US agricultural systems and dietary patterns. We will be addressing and working through the barriers and issues traditionally faced by farmers. This will help our local economies, producers, and the citizens of these areas who will have more access to nutrient rich foods. Objective 1:Partner with diverse stakeholders to identify barriers and opportunities for blue foods and aquaponics. This year our team put together a list of potential working group members and sent out offer letters to each potential participant. This working group is made up of educators and extension specialists. Our team has also conducted a needs assessment, whichincluded a focus group of 16 and interviews with 7 aquaponic producers and educators, to identify barriers and opportunities in the aquaponics industry. Objective 2: Design, construct, and evaluate a resilient and sustainable FPS that integrates aquaponics with microalgae cultivation, anaerobic digestion, and biorefining processes. Our team has utilized 16 systems at the Aquaculture ResearchLab and successfully built 6 more pilot-scale aquaponicunits in our on-campus greenhouse location. Using the aquaculture lab systems, we conducted an initial thermal study using 4 lettuce varieties: Paris Island, Buttercrunch, Black Seeded Simpson and Iceberg lettuce. We hired three staff members to help with greenhouse and aquaculture lab experiments. Our team also investigated the general production of our on-campus greenhouse system by growing Paris Island, Buttercrunch, Muir, and Bok Choi until fully grown and recording weights and chlorophyll readings. Currently a third trial is underway to assess scattered growing of our lettuces. For the water quality of our aquaculture systems, we have been conducting experiments into the best filtration method for contaminant removal. We have decided to move forward todevelopnew electrochemical filters for contaminant removal within our system as the best option.Our team has also been conducting experiments with 6 algae strains. Initially there were lab experiments to determine the best strains whichmeetour needs. The algae strains were then grown in aquaculture wastewater and their performance of nutrient removalwere published and presented. Our team has also built a 130-gallonalgae growingunit in the greenhouse and usedaquaculture wastewater to grow 2algae strains. One PhDstudent is conducting a literature review ofscientific studies on algal biomass composition, particulalryprotein, bioactive compounds, etc. One PhD student and one MSstudentwere hired in August 2023 to study algal protein extraction and utilization. Algal biomass was successfully harvested using a centrifuge. Methods for algal protein extraction and analysis were developed. We found pretreating algal biomass with cold plasma enhanced protein extraction. Our team has also developed a laboratory setup for anaerobic digestion experiments. One round of biogas production wascompleted. We have also conducted and presented an experiment ofaquacultural sludge co-digestion with dairy manure or corn husk with different mixing ratios. Objective 3: Assess economic and environmental performance of IAFPS and develop evidence-based management practices and business models. This year our team established baseline production data for the pilot-scale aquaponicsystems. We are measuring the cost including energy, supplies, etc. as well as the energy and the uptake of nutrients within our systems. Apostdoc was hired in January 2024to study nutrients and energy balance of the system. Though task 3B does not begin until year two, we have collected some initial data this past year that will assist us in our economic assessment. Our team has also developed models for life cycle assessments on aquaponics and aquaculture. One of the models also included microalgae-based wastewater treatment which proved to be environmentally feasible. The results of these models were published in two high-impact journal papers. A graduate student who worked closely on these models graduated in December 2023. Objective 4: Engage with stakeholders to support aquaponics and blue food market development. Though objective 4 is not slated to begin until year two, our team will useinformation gathered in Objectives 1, 2 and 3 to begin working on stakeholder engagement and supporting market development. Objective 5: Create, pilot, and publish education materials to foster a workforce prepared to support BFSC This year we have added course materials to two college courses. New course materials regardingaquaponics and nutrients recovery have been developed for CE/EEE 456Wastewater Treatment Processes. The second course, FS 591 Food and the Environment,addedaquaponics and its life cycle assessment to its content. For our content evaluation, evaluators are working with teaching faculty to develop a system to be used across the project. A draft instrument was pilot tested and is currently being revised. A pilot survey was created for assessing lectures, piloted in fall 2024, will implement in the next academic year across 4-5 courses. For our youth activities we have drafted ten activities with technical experts. These activities are currently being revised. We have also begun drafting chapter one of our three textbook chapters. Task 5C is not set to begin until year three, buttheinitial surveys we have developed will be the budling block of that educational analysis.

Publications

Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: April J. Arbour, Yu-Ting Chu, Paul B. Brown, Jen-Yi Huang. Life cycle assessment on marine aquaponic production of shrimp, red orache, minutina and okahajiki, Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 353, 120208, 2024. ISSN 0301-4797, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120208. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479724001944)
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: April J. Arbour, Pankaj Bhatt, Halis Simsek, Paul B. Brown, Jen-Yi Huang. Life cycle assessment on environmental feasibility of microalgae-based wastewater treatment for shrimp recirculating aquaculture systems, Bioresource Technology, Volume 399, 130578, 2024. ISSN 0960-8524, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130578. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960852424002815)
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yolanys Aranda-Vega, Pankaj Bhatt, Jen-Yi Huang, Paul Brown, Aparajita Bhasin, Aya S. Hussain, Halis Simsek. Biodegradability and bioavailability of dissolved substances in aquaculture effluent: Performance of indigenous bacteria, cyanobacteria, and green microalgae, Environmental Pollution, Volume 345, 123468, 2024. ISSN 0269-7491, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123468. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124001829)
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Pankaj Bhatt, Paul B. Brown, Jen-Yi Huang, Aya S. Hussain, Henry T. Liu, Halis Simsek. Algae and indigenous bacteria consortium in treatment of shrimp wastewater: A study for resource recovery in sustainable aquaculture system, Environmental Research, Volume 250, 118447, 2024. ISSN 0013-9351, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.118447. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935124003517)
Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Pankaj Bhatt, Jen-Yi Huang, Paul Brown, Karthik B. Shivaram, Elif Yakamercan, Halis Simsek. Electrochemical treatment of aquaculture wastewater effluent and optimization of the parameters using response surface methodology, Environmental Pollution, Volume 331, Part 1, 121864, 2023. ISSN 0269-7491, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121864. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123008667)
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Hussain, A. and P.B. Brown. 2023. A review of tilapia/lettuce production varieties, strains and research gaps. Aquaponics Association Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Hussain, A. and P.B. Brown. 2024. A review of tilapia/lettuce production varieties, strains and research gaps. Aquaculture America. San Antonio, TX.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Doctolero, J.S., T. Rice, A.S. Hussain and P.B. 2024. Identifying optimal thermal regime for rainsing Nile tilapia and lettuce in an aquaponic system. Aquaculture America. San Antonio, TX.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Bhatt, P. and Simsek, H. 2023. Electrochemical treatment of recirculating aquaculture wastewater effluent and optimization of the parameters using response surface methodology. 42nd Annual Indiana Water Resources Association Symposium. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Bhatt, P. and Simsek, H. 2023. Electrochemical treatment of recirculating aquaculture wastewater effluent and optimization of the parameters using response surface methodology. 10th Annual Graduate Student Association Industrial Research Symposium. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Bhatt, P. and Simsek, H. 2023. Treatment of the Shrimp Wastewater Using Combined Electrochemical and Biological Methods. ASABE Annual International Meeting. Omaha, NE.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Malott, M. and Huang, J.-Y. 2023. Introducing Purdue USDA Project: When Blue is Green: Sustainable Blue Food Systems Driven by Integrated Aquaponics. Ag Digital Showcase. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Malott, M. and Huang, J.-Y. 2023. Introducing Purdue USDA Project: When Blue is Green: Sustainable Blue Food Systems Driven by Integrated Aquaponics. Global Food & Nutrition Security and Human Health. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Malott, M. and Huang, J.-Y. 2023. Introducing Purdue USDA Project: When Blue is Green: Sustainable Blue Food Systems Driven by Integrated Aquaponics. ISF (Institute for a Sustainable Future) Fall Expo. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Arbour, A., Chu, T.-T., Brown, P.B. and Huang, J.-Y. 2023. Life cycle assessment of marine aquaponics for production of shrimp and three halophytes. Aquaponics Association Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: https://ag.purdue.edu/department/foodsci/big-project/index.html
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Malott, M. 2024. Blue Food, Green Life; Innovative Aquaponics for a Sustainable Future: The BiG Project. Veteran Farmers of America. Fair Oaks, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nandi, R., Rana, M. and Ni, J. Biogas production from aquacultural sludge co-digested with corn husk: a step towards sustainability. 2024. COA & COE Networking Poster Session. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Rana, M., Nandi, R. and Ni, J Anaerobic co-digestion of aquaculture sludge and dairy manure for improved biogas production. 2024. COA & COE Networking Poster Session. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Aranda-Vega, Y., Shivaram, K., Bhatt, P. and Simsek, H. 2023. Algal-bacterial consortia in treatment of fish wastewater and resource recovery of aquaculture water system. BiG Annual Meeting. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Shivaram, K., Aranda-Vega, Y., Bhatt, P. and Simsek, H. 2023. Algal-bacterial consortia for the treatment of aquaculture wastewater. BiG Annual Meeting. West Lafayette, IN.
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Aranda-Vega, Y., Bhatt, P. and Simsek, H. 2023. Aquaculture Waste Water Treatment using cyanobacteria, green algae and indigenous bacteria. BiG Annual Meeting. West Lafayette, IN.