Fish Farming on Mars

Image Credit: Earhtimes.org

One of the myriad challenges in establishing a self supporting settlement on Mars (or anywhere else off-planet) will be in developing an interesting, palatable and sustainable diet.  Freeze dried ice cream from the KSC Visitors center may be tasty, but you can hardly live on it.  Not just survival, but achieving the quality of life which comes from enjoyable diet is one of those the long term issues facing prospective pioneers.  It may turn out to be that fish, lots of fish, comprise a major portion of that diet.

With water obtained from ice and released from the “soil” it is not difficult to foresee a future in which aquaponics becomes a major source of the sustaining infrastructure on Mars.  It is also a rapidly growing industry on Earth, with a new trend being restaurants which farm fish on the premises.

This article takes a look at the issue, where fish farming in an old Hamm Brewery gives new meaning to the term “beer battered” fish.