4.

3
Case Study for sustainable fish farming
The website for Veta La Palma is http://www.vetalapalma.es/

The Ted talk is How I fell in love with a fish

Here is some background information about this particular case study that shows
sustainable fish farming can be a great success.

Location: Location: Veta La Palma. It's a fish farm in the southwestern corner of
Spain. It's at the tip of the Guadalquivir river.

Veta la Palma Estate is an commercial fish farm in southern Spain. It is located on

an island in the Guadalquivir river, 10 miles (16 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean in
Seville province of Spain. At 11,000 hectares it is the largest finca in the environs of Doñana
National Park, and one of the biggest private properties in the province of Seville. It
produces 1,200 tons of sea bass, bream, grey mullet and shrimp each year. The fish food
used in the farm’s semi-extensive systems (fish in the extensive balsas are left to feed on
naturally occurring organisms) contains no dioxins, antibiotics or GMOs. Given its 32
km area this gives a yearly yield of 37 tons per square kilometer. The fisheries have
2

attracted more than 200 species of migratory bird, many of which are endangered. 1

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veta_La_Palma

© Laura Hamilton,
InThinking www.thinkib.net/ESS 1
The following is from the TED ED website that will
let you think more deeply about this issue.

Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled

conditions and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish.

Reducing the environmental impact of global sustainable protein consumption is of crucial

importance to meet the needs for future generations.

The mission of The Institute for Self-Reliant Agriculture is to eliminate hunger, malnutrition, and
poverty by teaching rural families how to be financially and nutritionally self-sufficient on their
own land.

The fish farming activities carried out on the Veta la Palma land offer a series of environmental
benefits for the ecology of the marshlands in Guadalquivir in Spain.

Within the agriculture industry, agribusiness is widely used simply as a convenient portmanteau
of agriculture and business, referring to the range of activities and disciplines encompassed by
modern food production

.In his TED Talk, 11-year-old Birke Baehr presents his take on a major source of our food -- far-
away and less-than-picturesque industrial farms.

Can sustainable farming feed the world? Read New York Times article by food columnist Mark
Bittman.

In his fiery and funny TED talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's
wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants, too much fast food, too
little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk. 2

Questions

1. Why is this particular case study an excellent example of sustainable fish farming?

2. Draw a systems diagram of this fish farm, labelling all the inputs and outputs?

3. Are there any disadvantages with a project like this? What are they?

2
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-i-fell-in-love-with-a-fish-dan-barber#digdeeper

© Laura Hamilton,
InThinking www.thinkib.net/ESS 2
© Laura Hamilton,
InThinking www.thinkib.net/ESS 3