Fishing for landlubbers

Israeli fish farms use new technology to avoid need for freshwater.

By ADAM GONN
fish farm 521 (photo credit: Courtesy of Grow Fish Anywhere)
fish farm 521
(photo credit: Courtesy of Grow Fish Anywhere)
Feeding the world’s fast-growing population has led to sometimes catastrophic overfishing. One way of trying to compensate for the ever-decreasing natural fish stock in the ocean is by growing or breeding fish.
Breeders keep fish either in large holding ponds on land or in closed pens at sea, but both have disadvantages. The sea environment is hard to control. On land, the water in the ponds needs to be constantly changed because the fish excrete waste products such as ammonia and nitrate that are poisonous in large concentrations. Fish in land-based fish ponds also produce more ammonia and nitrate than fish in natural environments because they are often fed a protein-rich diet.
Dotan Bar Noy, CEO of Grow Fish Anywhere, (http://growfishanywhere.com/) tells The Jerusalem Report that his company has developed a method, which allows the fish to grow without the need for a constant source of fresh water.
“We are using zero discharge technology to grow the fish by treating the water with a live machine. Bacteria, in both an aerobic and an anaerobic process, restore the water to 100 percent of its original condition so that the fish can continue to grow,” explains Bar Noy. “We reuse the same water over and over again, only adding water to make up for what is lost due to evaporation.”
Grow Fish Anywhere’s system reduces waste products in a series of microbial processes. The first step involves fermentation: the conversion of complex organic waste compound to low molecular weight organic compounds. This is followed by nitrification: the conversion of ammonia to nitrate. The last step is denitrification, the conversion of nitrate to nitrogen gas and the conversion of low molecular weight organic compounds to carbon dioxide.
The process works in both saltwater and freshwater environments, enabling farmers to grow whichever type of fish they choose. Grow Fish Anywhere also boasts that its system enables fish to be grown without injections of antibiotics or mercury.
Karin Kloosterman, editor of the environmental blog GreenProphet.com tells The Report that fish farming is a positive way to deal with over-exploitation of fish at sea, giving natural fish populations the opportunity to recover their numbers.
Kloosterman adds that if fish can be bred in desert environments, as Grow Fish Anywhere claims, then brackish water can potentially be purified for fish ponds, reducing the need to tap into underground aquifers. From an environmental perspective, she says, that could be an ideal way for desert communities to rely less on farming animals that graze on desert shrubbery, reducing desertification.
In addition, fish farming in the desert could provide a sustainable source of income from otherwise poor value land.
“Aquaculture could be better than fish farms at sea, which is controversial because of the amount of concentrated pollution that the fish can generate in a small area,” says Kloosterman. “There is also the question of how many toxins the fish are absorbing in busy harbors, which often ferry in oil, gas, and other toxic materials that leak into water from sea traffic or water run-off on land and get into the fish.”
A new type of dental implant
Going to the dentist is not something most people look forward to. One of the most dreaded of procedures is the fitting of dental implants.
Israeli-based Sialo Technology (http:// www.sialotechnology.com/) claims that its innovative Dynamic Implant Valve Approach (DIVA) makes life easier not only for patients but also for dentists.
DIVA has a unique internal canal that allows additional medical and surgical procedures to be implemented after the initial dental implant without any need to remove it.
The DIVA does not replace the dental implant but functions instead as a base for the implanted tooth to which dentists can attach any type of implant.
In addition, the hollow canal can be used to inject medications, such as topical antibiotics to heal infections, without the patient having to go through another round of surgery. The canal can also be used to inject bone filler material.
Something in the air
There are plenty of things in the air that we breathe nowadays that may be dangerous but how can we know what is out there? Israeli company Airbase (http://www.myairbase.com/) has developed a range of portable monitoring units incorporating “the most advanced nanotechnology sensor technologies.” According to Airbase, its multi-sensors can detect whatever is in the air in a low-maintenance, energy-efficient and low-cost manner.
The system can measure levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide gas, and volatile organic compounds. The measurements are obtained by a sensor and the information is displayed on computer monitors or smartphones.
Airbase’s primary goal is to help ordinary people monitor air pollution in their local environment.
The technology can also be used to help improve air quality and raise awareness.
Airbase recently launched a Certified Partners Program allowing users to use and share information obtained using the technology. The information will be shared on social networking sites, enabling widespread comparisons of air-quality levels in different locations.