What a year of recirculating aquaculture research taught me
Notes from my MSc thesis on water quality, fish welfare and the trade-offs behind land-based farming.
Recirculating aquaculture systems promise something compelling: fish raised on land, with far less water, tighter control and a smaller footprint than open-net farming.
My MSc thesis put me inside that promise. Day to day, the work was about water chemistry, monitoring and patience.
Reading the water
Small shifts in oxygen, ammonia or temperature show up quickly in the fish, so the data has to be read early and acted on fast. Most of my days started with sampling and ended with spreadsheets.
Sustainability is a systems question, not a single number.
Energy use, feed, waste handling and welfare all pull against one another, and improving one often means negotiating with the others.
What I took away
I came out of the project convinced that practical, evidence-based decisions matter more than big claims, and that is the approach I want to bring to every role.