I believed that there was a future in aquaculture. I was interested in growing lobsters, but for reasons beyond the scope of this site, there is no advantage to growing lobsters in captivity. But I saw a future in fish farming.

I met a guy fortunate enough to be born with a trust fund. He was using his money to try to grow Tilapia in New England. At this time, Tilapia was not imported into the US, so it was more of an exotic fish. But as it turned out, growing Tilapia was tough to do in New England. Tilapia requires 80° water, and in the winters in New England, it becomes very expensive. He found a crop to grow alongside the Tilapia to supplement the cost. Over the top of the tilapia tank were basil plants being grown hydroponically. Water from the fish containing fish waste was pumped into the hydroponic garden and over the basal. It then flowed back into the fish tank. In the end, he made more money selling the basil than he did the fish and it turned out to be an impractical endeavor.

A trout farm in Sunderland, MA, was for sale. It grew brook trout. I designed a system incorporating the brook trout farm with the aquaculture and attempted to get funding. It’s too high a risk for regular investors, but I hoped the government would be interested. I realized that there were too many variables involved, and it was not worth pursuing. Years later, tilapia became a regular import into the US and tilapia grown in New England could not possibly compete with the price of tilapia grown in a warm climate