Singapore (AFP) – A high-tech fish farm is floating just off the coast of Singapore. It’s part of a plan by a former oil rig engineer to provide diners with cleaner, healthier seafood.
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The small city-state imports 90% of its food, but wants to source about a third of its food locally by 2030 in case of supply disruptions caused by climate change, disease or conflict. .
That’s why authorities are supporting projects such as Eco Ark, a giant fish farm that produces sea bass, grouper and stickleback for restaurant tables throughout the city of about 6 million people.
The facility has a monthly harvest of 30,000 tons, which Leo Van Tat, a former engineer and founder of Aquaculture Center of Excellence, Eco Ark’s parent company, said It is said to be 20 times more expensive than a farm.
“There’s a big difference in what we’re doing because we believe in technology,” Leow, a former oil rig builder, told AFP.
The barge-like structure filters the seawater with an ozone machine to kill disease-causing pathogens before transferring it to a 6-meter (20-foot) deep aquarium.
The tank simulates ocean conditions to keep the fish swimming against the current, making them leaner and more nutritious, protecting them from threats such as disease, plankton blooms and oil spills.
Leo, 65, said that unlike other farms, there is no need to add antibiotics at EcoArk because the water is so clean. Antibiotics help protect fish from disease, but over time they can cause resistance in humans and impact the environment.
Adult fish are fed frozen squid and pelleted food, he said, while young fish are also given probiotics that “aid both digestion and physiology and improve the performance of the animals.”
“It’s really delicious.”
Mr Leow is also looking to reduce emissions from the “farms of the future” by adding solar panels, and says young fish imported from Malaysia and Australia are carrying diseases. As it turned out, a hatchery was built.
Eco Ark’s fish is delivered to over 80 restaurants, supermarkets, and specialty stores, with an emphasis on freshly caught, healthy fish.
Mr Leow eventually hopes to export not only the fish, but also the Eco Ark technology, saying Eco Ark could be built near coastal areas to speed up delivery times and reduce costs. ing.
“Local farmers who actually know the economics can be encouraged to meet demand,” said Daniel Teo, co-founder of Singaporean restaurant Kin Hoi, which buys fish from the Eco Ark facility. It’s very important.”
Singapore is about the same size as New York City, but food security is a major issue because it doesn’t have the space to meet its agricultural and industrial needs, making everything from rooftop vegetable farms to EcoArk fish farms underfunded. It is being
However, Madhumisa Ardhanari, lead sustainability strategist at the non-profit Forum for the Future, said Singapore’s heavy reliance on government subsidies raises concerns about their long-term viability. He said that
Kinhoi diner Martin Pei didn’t complain as he devoured the fried sea bass he bought at Eco Ark.
“The fish was really good,” he said. “I didn’t know it was farmed just by eating it.”
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