NPR

Waste Not, Want Not: Drink Beer To Feed Fish And Help Save The Planet

Industry trailblazers are trying to lessen the energy and resource costs of aquaculture. Possible solutions include using brewery waste, algae, insects or even carbon dioxide to feed the fish we eat.
Forage fish like these at a Chilean processing plant are often used for fish meal used in aquaculture. But critics consider this inefficient and wasteful and worry it could deplete fish populations. Now several companies are developing protein substitutes to replace fish meal.

In Westfield, N.Y., perch, bass, catfish and trout are growing fat on the byproducts of an adjacent brewery and distillery. The fish, still young but intended to be harvested and eaten next year, are the first fruits of an innovative project aimed at turning waste into food while addressing a suite of problems associated with more conventional means of catching and farming seafood.

The operation is a partnership between TimberFish Technologies and Five & 20 Spirits and Brewing, both based in Westfield. The brewery and distillery generate between 750 and 1,000 gallons of wastewater and grain discards each day.

Mario Mazza, the company's general manager, says a

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