Sustainable aquaculture program gives new life to old barns

Peter Kenter
May 19, 2010
Daily Commercial News

A pilot project headed up by the Interprovincial Partnership for Sustainable Freshwater Aquaculture Development (IPSFAD) aims to prove that derelict and unused buildings once used for chickens, hogs or horses can be renovated into thriving fish farms.

Although the first project is located in Warren, Man., it’s designed to provide a blueprint for similar projects in Ontario and Quebec.

“Typically the type of barn that lends itself to conversion is long and narrow,” says Grant Vandenberg, President of IPSFAD. “That describes a hog barn or some of the barns used in recent year to collect mare’s urine as a source of hormone therapy for post-menopausal women.”

With some hog farmers leaving the industry in the wake of unstable prices or bans on pig farming in certain regions, derelict barns are plentiful. They’re also often outfitted with concrete walls, a water supply, electricity and a waste retention system. 

Read the full story in the Daily Commercial News

Read related story on the FishSite; May 19, 2010; "Pilot Project Turns Poultry Or Pigs Into Trout"