AQUACULTURE
4
HOOKED ON A SYSTEM
TCBusiness.com
ANTHONY INSWASTY PHOTOS
Naturally raised tilapia are being produced on an environmentally sustainable fish farm located on the west side of Vero Beach.
Vero Beach farm uses innovative process
to raise market-ready tilapia
On the west side of Vero Beach,
15 acres of verdant farmland
are producing an environmentally
sustainable food product.
And there is something decidedly fishy
about it.
A vertically integrated tilapia farm is
the latest venture by Michael B. Timmons,
one of the world’s foremost authorities in
aquaculture. He is recognized professionally
and academically for his cutting edge
work with aqua systems, but there’s also a
dual purpose to his project, because he’s
using his fish farming expertise to benefit
the Vero Beach-based nonprofit, United
Against Poverty.
Timmons’ farm, Atlantic Pacific Jade,
focuses on fish-breeding genetics and has
produced a healthy and protein-rich stock
of farm-raised tilapia that can be mass produced
and is environmentally sustainable.
It is a nourishing, locally produced product
made for the U.S. market.
For more than a decade, Timmons, a
retired Cornell University professor, had
taught short classes at Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute as a visiting
scientist at FAU. Timmons also is one of the
founders of the Aquacultural Engineering
Society and has served as its president. >>
BY MARY ANN KOENIG
/TCBusiness.com
