“Fish in the Fields” Expansion
Farmers introduce aquaculture to winter-flooded rice fields
With this week’s introduction of thousands of fish into the fallow flooded rice fields owned by fourth-generation rice farmer, Charles Mathews, Fish in the Fields continues to expand its project of establishing a profitable – and methane-reducing – rotation crop for California’s half-million acres of rice cultivation. In the next few weeks, the Gellert Ranch and Saddleback Ranch will also be adding fish for a total of 45 acres of fish production, up from only a single acre a year ago.
Over the last several years, Resource Renewal Institute (RRI), a Bay-Area environmental research group, has joined forces with a growing number of rice farmers in California’s Sacramento Valley to add the second crop. It offers multiple benefits:
1) a new source of income for farmers and farm communities;
2) an alternative source of fish protein to help offset depleted ocean fisheries;
3) a decrease in climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from rice fields;
4) continued habitat preservation for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds along the Pacific Flyway.
The myriad benefits of Fish in the Fields
Growing fish in fields is compatible with existing rice farming methods that provide wildlife and migratory bird habitat. “A rice field has once again proved itself a valuable replacement for the lost wetlands in the Sacramento Valley. Raising fish in a winter flooded rice field should prove to be a great environmental benefit, explains” Charley Mathews, Chairman of USA Rice Federation, the global advocate for all segments of the U.S. rice industry.
Fish in the Fields also supports rural communities by providing an additional source of income for farmers by growing two staple crops from the same amount of land and water typically used for just one. “Flooded winter rice fields are highly productive systems for raising fish,” says Dr. Andrew Rypel of UC Davis. Rypel has found that flooded rice fields are ten times more productive for raising fish than are systems in the wild across North America.
In addition, growing an alternative source of commercial animal feed serves to take the pressure off forage fish—a rapidly depleting but crucial link in the ocean food chain. Millions of tons of small fish are taken from the ocean every year to produce food for pets and fish farms.
RRI is partnering with J and J Aquafarms in Sanger, California to raise fish for the project. As its owner, John Young explains, “Defying the relentless march toward depleted ocean fish stocks, Fish in the Fields takes an important step in the right direction. The symbiosis of native species, plankton feeders, and untapped food sources in flooded rice fields results in an ethical end product that could be the exemplar for sustainable aquaculture. I am honored to be a part of it”.
Groundbreaking research shows a reduction in greenhouse gases
RRI has been partnering with the University of Montana aquatic ecologist Shawn Devlin, PhD. to conduct methane studies at test ponds on California rice farms near Marysville. The Fish in the Fields research, based on Dr. Devlin’s award-winning work in freshwater ecosystems in Finland, has revealed that adding small fish to flooded rice fields reduces methane emissions associated with winter flooding by as much as two-thirds. The findings will be published in early 2020.
Launched in 2017, the Fish in the Fields project annually releases small fish into test ponds in winter-flooded rice fields. The fish grow quickly, requiring no other food source than naturally occurring zooplankton, which are small aquatic organisms that feed on the decaying rice stubble. By consuming the plankton, the added fish prevent methane – a greenhouse gas twenty-five times more potent than CO2 – from being released into the atmosphere.
Reducing methane from rice cultivation is a critical part of mitigating climate change around the world. With 3 million rice-growing acres in the United States and approximately 400 million acres worldwide, the FIF fish/rice solution could become an effective and economical tool for protecting the global environment.
Growth in 2020
Fish in the Fields currently operates on 45 acres, a dramatic increase over the single acre of experimental ponds it launched in Marysville in 2017. "These partnerships are an exciting step on our path to prove the viability of Fish in the Fields. We look forward to continued collaboration and responsible growth of this model for resilient and ecologically-centered rice farming," said Chance Cutrano, head of development for Fish in the Fields. Based on their research and depending on conditions, the Fish in the Fields team estimates a yield of up to 300 pounds of protein-rich fish per acre. The fish will be sold as sustainable pet food or aquaculture feed.
According to Deborah Moskowitz, President of RRI, “Our aim is to produce a large, sustainable source of fish protein to be used in place of threatened ocean fish species. At the same time, Fish in the Fields is proving to be the kind of economically productive and environmentally restorative enterprise that can fight climate change on a global scale.”
Contacts:
Deborah Moskowitz, Resource Renewal Institute
dmoskowitz@rri.org
Chance Cutrano, Fish in the Fields
ccutrano@fishinthefields.com
