AQUACULTURE
Taking advantage of the farming-friendly regulations in Florida,
he began APJ in 2019. In 2020, he met Andrew Dixon who was
working on a USDA project at Harbor Branch attempting to breed
bonefish in captivity for the first time. A graduate of the University
of Miami in marine affairs, Dixon had common interests in the
aquaculture world and Timmons hired him to be the farm’s fish
manager. Together they have raised a lavishly nurtured line of tilapia,
relying on a genetically healthy breed of fish that Timmons
created, a lineage that stretches back nearly 30 years.
WROTE THE BOOK
Timmons’ research focused on recirculating aquaculture system
technology. And he wrote the book on the topic. Recirculating
Aquaculture, 5th Edition, known as The Yellow Book, is considered
the industry bible for fish farmers worldwide.
RAS recirculates water from fish tanks and does not discharge
water into a stream, lake or ocean. The water quality value is
reconditioned to nearly what it was when the water first entered
the tank. Appropriate oxygen, carbon dioxide and ammonia
concentrations are restored. This expertise of sustainable aqua
systems naturally led Timmons to a practical environment, competing
with farmers who conventionally raise seafood in ponds
and net pens.
The result, according to Timmons, has been the most advanced
aquaculture technology in the world.
Some of the problems of mass-producing food are the overuse
of pesticides, resource depletion and low nutritional quality. Timmons
and Dixon use digital aquaculture technology to overcome
these obstacles. The farm follows all organic practices. The meal
fed to the fish is a high-grade, proprietary product sold by the >>
Michael Timmons, left, and Andrew Dixon raise and sell genetically healthy
tilapia using a recirculating aquaculture system developed by Timmons.
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