Farmers Raise Fish, Shrimp in the Desert

Aug. 5, 2002 — -- Samuel Appelbaum wants to help solve the world's water crisis and he wants to do it by pulling fish from the desert.

Desert fish farms, that is.

A decade ago, the idea of raising fish in the desert might have been ridiculed, but 10 years of successful aquaculture in Israel and the southwestern United States have shown the idea can work.

Now Appelbaum and others are working to help the concept catch on in arid regions around the world as future water supplies are tapped dry.

"People thought we were lunatic at first," says Appelbaum while on a recent tour in New York City. "But we know there is a need and this can answer that need. Much of the world has arid land that is rich in sun and cheap labor — for aquaculture you don't need much else to be successful."

Aquaculture may not need much, but water, of course, is necessary.

To host fish and shrimp in the desert, farmers draw water from deep underground aquifers that exist under many arid regions of the world. The warm, ancient water is contained in prehistoric caverns 50-150 feet beneath the desert surface and is slightly brackish or salty.

Ten years of experimentation have found that some species, including shrimp, catfish, tilapia (a fish that has become more popular on U.S. dinner tables in recent years) and striped bass thrive in the warm, slightly salty water. In fact, the warm water appears to accelerate the breeding rate of many species.

To access the salty water supply, farmers drill through the desert floor using equipment similar to oil drilling machinery and collect it in above ground pools, creating comfortable living quarters for edible creatures.

Keeping fish and shrimp farms in desert communities may seem impractical, but the enclosed farms actually hold a key advantage over coastal ones — the animals remain protected from diseases that are often spread between seaside farms through ocean waters.

Appelbaum, the head of Israel's Bengis Center for Desert Aquaculture in the Negev Desert, estimates more than 30 million tons of shrimp and fish are raised from desert fish farms each year, producing an industry worth more than $40 billion. In Israel, most are raised in the Negev desert, where temperatures average about 97.5 degrees in August and annual rainfall is close to zero.