Posted on 06/05/2006 5:05:37 PM PDT by blam
'Desert fish will help to feed the world'
By Max Benitz
(Filed: 05/06/2006)
Deserts will produce much of the farmed fish and the clean power of the future, a United Nations report says.
Aquaculture already thrives in deserts such as the Negev in Israel and Arizona, according to the report published to mark World Environment Day.
It says saline water in desert wells and sunlight can be used to mimic tropical seas, making them ideal for farming fish and shrimp. Another benefit is that fish farming uses less water than the production of a vegetable crop.
Many fish and algae - cultivated for human consumption for centuries in Chad - can live, even thrive, in water from desert wells that contain too much salt for most cultivated crops.
Another potential development use for deserts is the cultivation of nipa, a cereal crop found in Mexico which thrives on salt water and is drought resilient. "It is a strong candidate for a major global food crop," says the report.
The report also describes the energy potential of deserts. "They can provide large and cheap areas of land in which renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar power can be cultivated," it says.
"Far from being barren wastelands, deserts are biologically, economically and culturally dynamic," said Shafqat Kakakhel, the deputy director of the UN Environment Programme.
Prof Andrew Warren, of University College London, said it was important to cut out "frivolous" water use, such as wheat cultivation in countries, such as Saudi Arabia, that could import cereal crops. He said cash crops such as dates should be grown instead.
The report's authors warn of the implications of global warming on deserts, with dry rivers threatening fragile environments and their wildlife.
But they say if deserts are used rationally and to their full potential, some of the most dire predictions can be prevented.
Except for the U.N. involvement part.
Bump!
The high saline/metal content would generally kill those who could afford to eat i think.
Government-subsidized water supply. Terrible for the environment wherever the water comes from. I seem to recall they're having real trouble in the Jordan-Dead Sea basin because of all the "free" water going to irrigate the Negev.
I stopped reading there.
So it is written, so let it be done...
Yes, but who can tolerate all the gas and bloating caused by the great Blue Green stuff?
One doesn't eat it, one burns it in one's SUV to help global warming along.
Sam Kinison said it best: move to where the food is!! you live in a desert!!
"But they say if deserts are used rationally and to their full potential, some of the most dire predictions can be prevented."
(I'm not picking on you, blam, so don't get me wrong.)
Oh, Puh-leeze. There is a reason some areas of our planet are desert, some are forest, some are prairie, some are mountains, some are crop-raising fields, some are grasslands, some are snow & ice and 99% of it is already water, most of it salt water. If building fish hatcheries was the solution to World Hunger, where are the huge fish & shrimp factories all along our "Global Coastlines?"
Hunger is caused due to corrupt governments. The USA has given 40 BILLION dollars to Africa alone in the past 40 years...and there are STILL hungry people there. Heck, there are still hungry people in any major city you care to name in our own country due to corrupt, pork-loving, capitalism-and-free-enterprise hating politicians.
Call me cynical.
Below is a listing of previous World Environment Day 'Themes.' They've been milking a "crisis" each year and solving NOTHING since they formed in 1972. And then it took them two years to invent "World Environment Day" to milk money out of investors or whoever is dumb enough to give them dime-one.
# 2005 – Green Cities – Plan for the Planet!
# 2004 – Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?
# 2003 – Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It!
# 2002 - Give Earth a Chance
# 2001 - Connect with the World Wide Web of Life
# 2000 - The Environment Millennium - Time to Act
# 1999 - Our Earth - Our Future - Just Save It!
# 1998 - For Life on Earth - Save Our Seas
# 1997 - For Life on Earth
# 1996 - Our Earth, Our Habitat, Our Home
# 1995 - We the Peoples: United for the Global Environment
# 1994 - One Earth One Family
# 1993 - Poverty and the Environment - Breaking the Vicious Circle
# 1992 - Only One Earth, Care and Share
# 1991 - Climate Change. Need for Global Partnership
# 1990 - Children and the Environment
# 1989 - Global Warming; Global Warning
# 1988 - When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last
# 1987 - Environment and Shelter: More Than A Roof
# 1986 - A Tree for Peace
# 1985 - Youth: Population and the Environment
# 1984 - Desertification
# 1983 - Managing and Disposing Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy
# 1982 - Ten Years After Stockholm (Renewal of Environmental Concerns)
# 1981 - Ground Water; Toxic Chemicals in Human Food Chains
# 1980 - A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development Without Destruction
# 1979 - Only One Future for Our Children - Development Without Destruction
# 1978 - Development Without Destruction
# 1977 - Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil Degradation
# 1976 - Water: Vital Resource for Life
# 1975 - Human Settlements
# 1974 - Only one Earth
http://www.unep.org/wed/2006/english/Previous_Themes/index.asp
I work locally to help those in need in my immediate community. Works well for us in the Midwest. It's not Rocket Science, unless, of course, you're trying to scam others out of millions or billions of dollars. ;)
And fish and shrimp taste a LOT better!
Isn't that the truth.
Desert Sweet is a shrimp grown outside of Phoenix, near Gila Bend. The owner was told he could not do it. He uses the natural warmth of the water to make the shrimp happy. He has a big business.
Here is the link:
http://www.desertsweetshrimp.com/
Due diligence - I am not a stockholder, but I am sure I ate a few of those in the last five years.
However, all places where fish-farming is successful share two characteristics. 1) The farmers are educated and intelligent, and 2) they are dedicated to capitalism. The idea that the UN understands either of those prerequisites.
If fish-farming could succeed in an environment of bribery, ignorance and incompetence, then I think the UN would be ideal to lead such an effort.
P.S. info. My primary is over, but because of legal and ethical problems, the incumbent may withdraw/be forced out. He is also losing in the latest poll (5/28) to the Democrat challenger. I seek to be the replacement nominee. For more information see my website. I still need your help.
Congressman Billybob
Latest article: "Stomping on the Constitution, California-Style"
When are the do gooders going to quit feeding the worlds hungry.
Starvation is natural population control, all they are doing is multiplying the problem.
You are quite right. Most of the bad water in our southwest deserts contain very high levels of heavy metals. Arsenic is the most common, but mercury is also common near many of our geothermal areas. The Salton Sea, just south of Palm Springs is now a very polluted body because of salts and metals.
Researchers trying to raise saltwater fish in Black Belt (Alabama)
The Associated Press
EUTAW -- The underground saltwater deposits have long been a source of frustration for Black Belt residents digging wells in search of drinking water.
Now, they could also be a source of fish.
Auburn University researchers are trying to raise flounder, redfish, pompano and other saltwater species in the region about 225 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
The university's fisheries sciences department received a grant to determine the feasibility of raising saltwater species in Black Belt ponds.
"We're trying to find something that these farmers can do besides catfish," said Nelson Sansing, who graduated from Auburn in December 2004. "They're trying to find fish that they can get a higher price for at the market."
Black Belt fish farmers are already growing saltwater shrimp. Catfish thrive in saltwater.
The project is designed largely to learn if saltwater species can live in low salinity and if farmers can produce them profitably, Auburn researcher Ron Phelps said.
The flounder and redfish seem to be faring best so far. All of the pompano, however, eventually died.
The underground saltwater is present throughout much of the region bordered by Greensboro and Eutaw on the north and Demopolis and Uniontown to the south. In Hale and Greene counties, the saltwater can be found from 600-1,000 feet below ground, said Marlon Cook, a hydro geologist with the Alabama Geological Survey.
Alabama also has underground deposits of saltwater in northern Clarke County and in Lowndes County.
However, the process of raising the fish is not as easy as digging a well and letting it fill up with saltwater. Salt in seawater is about 30 to 35 parts per thousand. The Black Belt salt aquifers range from 1.5 to 6.5 parts per thousand, Sansing said.
"It's also deficient in other minerals," he said. "Farmers have to add potassium and magnesium for shrimp."
The researchers are raising the fish in big tanks and in cages within ponds filled with saltwater.
I'm not saying it's NOT a worthy cause; as a chicken farmer I'm all for exploiting fish, fowl or any other "crop" that we can use to make a buck and/or feed someone. I'm one of those "Crunchy Conservatives" that you may have heard of. ;)
However, I do not trust the UN when it comes to feeding people or solving a problem. They are a bunch of hooligans and dictators...and I'm not at all impressed with Mr. Bolton after his last vote.
But you're right. If it can work locally and help your economy and those on the lower end of the pay scale get a leg up through inginuity and hard work, then that's...A Good Thing, Martha. ;)
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