Hi there fellow Permies, Mods, and friends, Glad to be part of the forums here. I'm a noobie and was going to post my question in Ask the Experts, but found that it wasn't appropriate in the open threads there at the moment so am going to ask it here. During my PDC in Koh Phangan, Thailand in 2012, I was told a story by our teacher Mustafa Bakir that he had heard from Geoff Lawton and Bill Mollison about a aquaculture system created in Hawaii for fresh-water shrimp. Story goes that Bill had met a Korean-American named Dong living there that had rented 1 acre of land for approximately US$2000 per year. On this land he dug down 1.5 m into two ponds and filled them up with water. After allowing them to settle, he introduced duckweed and other vegetation into the ponds and began to add ducks to the system. As the ducks would manure into the water, raising the phosphate and nutrient production, he added snails as a source of food for the ducks which would also control the nutrient growth in the water. This would allow the system to cycle with three inputs and created a perfect environment for him to focus on his targeted commodity which was the production of fresh-water shrimp. At the bottom of the pond he introduced these shrimp fry which, once grown, he would harvest twice a year and sell to the local markets in Hawaii, creating a very considerable revenue from a very very low overhead cycling system and nearly no maintenance or inputs other than what nature naturally provided. This story absolutely blew my mind when I heard it and I've been determined to learn more about it and meet the person behind it. I thought it might be best to Geoff Lawton if he had heard the story from Bill as well or new anything more about it but if anyone else here has any information I would be greatly appreciative. I have lived in Korea for 20 years and would very much like to speak with this person Dong if anyone knows any contact information for him or has any more information about this aquaculture system that he has created. Many thanks in advance, :bow::y: Jeff Kraus
I don't know the answer to your question - but you might find this system pretty close to what you are describing. The Power of Duck.
Thanks! Hi Eco, Many thanks for your response. It's appreciated. arty: The book looks interesting. I'll see if I can find a used copy. Best regards, Jay