PUBLISHER’S NOTE
1
FISH FARMS A GREAT CATCH
FOR THE TREASURE COAST
As demand for Florida seafood continues to exceed what the commercial fishing industry can
produce, aquaculture — captively raising fish, shellfish and aquatic plants — offers a viable solution
to expanding and sustaining Florida’s fishery and decreasing reliance on imported products
and our nearby lagoon and ocean fishery.
One case of an aquaculture farm making scientific inroads is taking place west of Vero Beach at
Atlantic Pacific Jade, soon to be called Simmons Fish Farm.
As Mary Ann Koenig writes in Hooked on a System beginning on Page 4, farm produced tilapia
are being raised and sold for distribution to the U.S. market with enough available for donations
to United Against Poverty. The operation is the brain child of retired Cornell University professor
Michael B. Timmons, who developed a genetically healthy breed of the fish over three decades.
The farm is managed by marine specialist Andrew Dixon, who is in line to take over the business.
One of the environmental friendly features of the farm is that it uses technology developed by
Timmons to recirculate water instead of discharging it into another body of water. All the while,
the farm remains intensely focused on both the quality of the water in which the fish are raised
and the nutritional quality of the fish themselves.
It’s just one of a handful of aquaculture businesses on the Treasure Coast, which includes the
Ithuba Shrimp Farm in Fellsmere and Aquaco Farms north of Fort Pierce, that have become part
of a global solution to sustaining the world’s food supply.
Jade, Aquaco and Ithuba are also examples of entrepreneurs diving wholeheartedly into
aquaculture. And with nearby research institutions such as FAU-Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institute, the Smithsonian Research Station, the Ocean Research & Conservation Association and
the Florida Oceanographic Society, coupled with what some entrepreneurs perceive as Florida’s
farming-friendly regulations, there’s no reason the Treasure Coast shouldn’t be home to more of
these enterprises.
Publisher & Editor
Gregory Enns
772.940.9005
enns@indianrivermedia.com
Associate Publisher
Allen Osteen
Assistant to the Publisher
Lauren Shott
772.672.9859
lauren@indianrivermedia.com
Director of Sales
Lori Reader
lori@indianrivermedia.com
Associate Editor
Judith Collins
Design Editor
Michelle Moore-Burney
Digital and Social Media Editor
Deborah Maldonado
Copy Editors
Pattie Durham, Gaettane A. Paul
Contributing Writers
Mary Ann Koenig, Joe DeSalvo,
Anthony Westbury, Bernie Woodall
Cover Photo
Anthony Inswasty
Photographers
Rusty Durham, Anthony Inswasty
Advertising Representatives
Sunny Gates
772.204.5043
sunny@indianrivermedia.com
Jim McCabe
917.912.0040
jim@indianrivermedia.com
Shelby Shea
443.373.9174
shelby@indianrivermedia.com
Distribution
Wes Holloway
To Subscribe
Visit IndianRiverStore.com
or send $20 check with
recipient’s mailing address to
Indian River, 308 Ave. A,
Fort Pierce, FL 34950
All address changes must be made in writing
to the above address or by e-mailing
subscribe@indianrivermag.com
On the Web
www.tcbusiness.com
Treasure Coast Business is a publication
of Indian River Magazine Inc., 308 Ave.
A, Fort Pierce, FL 34950. Treasure Coast
Business magazine publishes four times
a year. To subscribe visit tcbusiness.com.
All material contained herein is copyrighted
by Indian River Magazine Inc.
ANTHONY INSWASTY
Farm-raised tilapia are being produced in Vero Beach by Atlantic Pacific Jade, which plans to ship some of its stock
to the live-fish market. The farm has donated fresh fish to a local nonprofit, United Against Poverty.
TCBusiness.com
Gregory Enns, Publisher
772.940.9005 or enns@indianrivermedia.com
/www.tcbusiness.com
/indianriverstore.com
/IndianRiverStore.com
/www.tcbusiness.com
/tcbusiness.com
/TCBusiness.com
link
link
link
link
link
link
link
link