Creative Aquaponics Partnership Formed

PRLog (Press Release) - Jan 26, 2010 -
Loveland, CO      Two leaders in the emerging industry of aquaponics have joined forces to form a partnership they expect will bring the practice to the mainstream. Aquaponics is a way of growing fish and vegetables in a contained, recirculating system. Fish in tanks produce waste in the form of ammonia. The water is pumped out and converts to nitrates, through bacterial action, which are taken up by the plants, growing in separate gravel beds. The water then returns clean to the fish tank. The process requires no irrigation and produces large volumes of vegetables in a relatively short time. The fish are also harvested for an additional natural and healthy food source.

Bevan Suits of Decatur, GA and Dr. Wayne Dorband of Loveland, CO are forming Worldwide Aquaculture, LLC to promote the technology and all that it offers as a way to grow food as well as local economies based on food.

Mr. Suits is an industrial designer and the author of The Aquaponics Guidebook, a comprehensive e-book that is selling around the world, with highly favorable reviews. He is developing a range of aquaponics products and systems that range from tabletop to farm-sized. His website, www.accesstoaquaponics.com, offers a one-stop source for all who are new to the concept.

Dr. Dorband, who has a PhD in aquaculture, is widely known for his entrepreneurial work in industrial brownfield property development. He has launched various investment and risk management firms that continue to thrive. His assets include many acres of property and industrial sites across Colorado and the US. His company, Mountain Sky Group, has plans for developing eco-communities in northern Colorado that will include aquaponics for community food production. Dr. Dorband has over 35 years of experience in the aquaculture industry, and has pioneered work on many aquaculture ventures through the years including; riparian vegetation nursery production, tilapia production in geothermal water, ornamental fish production, aquaculture in power plant effluents, and retail fish sales.

Another entity that Dorband helps manage in Loveland, along with a 3rd partner, Scott Fardulis, is the nonprofit Institute of Ecolonomics (IOE), originally founded by the late actor Dennis Weaver. According to its website, IOE is “a leading environmental and economic applied research and deployment organization which places a values-based and balanced emphasis on economic and environmental concerns.”  The team is focusing on developing multimedia communications that train sectors of industry on practical methods of saving money while “going green”. The Green Guide for Restaurants, written by Colorado chef Bruno Krioussis, will act as a template for future educational programming that will include aquaponics.

Worldwide Aquaculture has acquired the rights to accesstoaquaponics.com and The Aquaponics Guidebook. The website will continue to function as an entry portal for consumers and professionals seeking products and information. The book will continue to be developed in a unique, interactive PDF format to feature regular updates and links to training videos.

The team is gearing up to implement some ambitious aquaponics development and education projects, including:
   •   Research and development of aquaponics products and systems for sale and licensing to corporate partners and contractors.

   •   Conversion of about 55,000 square feet of greenhouse space north of Boulder, CO into an entrepreneurial aquaponics incubator. Interested parties will lease space and take advantage various available resources. The process is expected to yield valuable research data, which will be collected and made available.

   •   Conversion of a large industrial site west of Cleveland, OH into a commercial aquaponics operation.

   •   Development of a large shrimp farming operation, expected to be the largest in the US, near Beaufort, SC. This project will eventually add an aquaponics element. It is currently being built by Dorband’s son, Dustin.

   •   A series of regular free webinars on aquaponics and related topics which will be promoted to the public. Guests will include some of the world’s leading aquaponics pioneers from around the world. Segments will be archived and available on demand for a subscription fee.