Farm fresh fish: donation will allow BCLUW to purchase aquaponics unit

In this day and age, you don’t need to live near an ocean—or even a river—to catch your own fish. You can raise them yourself at a small town central Iowa high school.
           
The BCLUW FFA program, thanks to a donation of $6,000 from Farm Credit Services of America, will purchase an aquaponics system, which combines raising water-dwelling animals with supplying nutrients for hydroponic plants, and team up with the Comet Café to use the fish and shrimp for dishes—along with strawberries for dessert—next winter and spring. Vocational Agriculture teacher Tara Leytham and junior Dalton Critchfield, a hunting and fishing enthusiast with aspirations to work for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) someday, are excited about its potential.
           
“I’ve just kind of been an outdoorsman for my whole life,” he said. “(Leytham) brought it up one day, and I thought it would be kind of cool to do that—to see what fish can do and actually things that they help in the wildlife.”
           
Farm-raised fish have gained popularity in Iowa largely due to the success of Webster City-based VeroBlue and grown into a multimillion industry in the process. Leytham and Critchfield plan to visit Northstar Fish Hatchery between Montour and Toledo sometime this spring, and owners Todd and Larry Hinegardner will offer their expertise and assistance. 
 
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