Abstract
In recent years, aquaponics has been receiving increased interest globally as a commercial food production technology and aquaponics start-up companies have been formed in most European countries. Between 2014 and 2018, the European-funded COST Action FA1305 “The EU Aquaponics Hub-Realising Sustainable Integrated Fish and Vegetable Production for the EU” created a strong network of researchers and entrepreneurs. However, surveys show that the aquaponic production in Europe is still very limited, and very few companies are economically viable. In order to obtain insights into the barriers to early development of commercial aquaponics, two surveys were carried out—one in Europe, which included France, and one in France alone, with a different protocol. Henceforth, for simplicity, the former will be referred to as Europe and the latter as France. The results reveal that the development of commercial aquaponics has hit the level of “disillusionment”, caused by numerous challenges facing commercial food production. As the understanding of the processes involved in aquaponics is increasing, it will be very interesting to follow the developments in the field over the coming years in order to ascertain whether aquaponics will follow the phases outlined by the “Gartner’s Hype Cycle” and thus proceed to become an established technology, or whether it will remain an “one hit wonder” and disappear in the “Trough of Disillusionment”.
Highlights
IntroductionModern aquaponics emerged simultaneously with recirculating aquaculture technology in the
Many backyard systems and farms producing both fish and vegetables have emerged in the last decade in Australia and the United States [3]
The first wave of research on economic aspects of aquaponics started in the USA
Summary
Modern aquaponics emerged simultaneously with recirculating aquaculture technology in the. Many backyard systems and farms producing both fish and vegetables have emerged in the last decade in Australia and the United States [3]. The first commercial farms started operation too [4]. The first wave of research on economic aspects of aquaponics started in the USA. It focused on evaluation and development of specific, mostly research institutes-led case studies with a very optimistic outlook for the future [5,6,7]. In Europe, aquaponics has developed at a slower rate, largely within research institutes and to a large extent with public funding [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
