Nor Cal Aquaponics
Aquaponics is one of the most productive and sustainable food production systems in the world! It is a combination of Aquaculture (farming fish) and Hydroponics (growing plants with out soil) in which both fish and plants benefit from one another! The production levels of Aquaculture and Hydroponics combined far exceed that of either system alone. Nor Cal Aquaponics is one of, if not the first in the world to offer systems, trainings, knowledge and experience in a Permaculture based Aquaponics design methodology, we call Closed-Loop Aquaponics.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Aquaculture
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
About Us
Who is Nor Cal Aquaponics?
Nor Cal Aquaponics is the first name in Permaculture based Aquaponics training, consultation, design and installation services.
We are committed to continually improving our work and designs. We are continually involved in Aquaponics research and incorporate the cutting edge from the Aquaponics development community!
We want to spread this knowledge as far and as wide as possible and are sharing everything we know with the public!
Nor Cal Aquaponics was started by Max Meyers a Certified Permaculture Teacher, Designer and consultant. He is the executive director of the Mendocino Ecological Learning Center (MELC) and runs a Permaculture consultation business.
Mr. Meyers is an experienced Aquaponics system designer and is the creator of truly self sufficient Permaculture based Aquaponics systems he calls Closed-Loop Aquaponics. Ever since breaking his back in a motorcycle accident, Max has been completely dedicated to learning all he can about all things relating to sustainable and regenerative living. Before his injury he was an auto mechanic and tropical fish hobbyist. He feels that Aquaponics is an absolutely perfect fit for his passions, experience and skills. In addition to his own experience, Max Meyers has studied and worked with many Aquaponics professionals including Dr. James Rakocy, PhD and Dr. Wilson Lennard, PhD, the only two people in the world currently holding a PhD in Aquaponics. By fusing Permaculture and Aquaponics Mr. Meyers has created systems that are some of the most self sufficient Aquaponics models on earth!
When Max Meyers applied Permaculture Design to Aquaponics a new generation of systems and farms were created. We call this new generation of Aquaponics, Closed-Loop Aquaponics. These systems are even more sustainable, productive and profitable than traditional Aquaponics!
Our team includes experienced Aquaponics professionals, businesses and organizations, Permaculture Designers, professional Aquaculturists, organic farmers, landscape designers and Architects. We partner with like minded organizations like Pacific Domes, Forever Flowering Greenhouses, Finca Las Nubes, Living Mandala, AquaBiotic Systems, and AP Rainwater Harvesting Greywater Gardens. We have systems and established sites at organic farms, eco-resorts, homes and businesses.
Why Aquaponics?
What if there was a way to produce an abundance of organic food using 98% less water, while producing up to ten times more food in the same amount of area and time?
What if you could achieve this using 1/4 the amount of energy? Imagine producing organic food in a system that does not require fertile soil, saves you labor, makes you a good living and is incredibly sustainable? Well the exciting news is that such a system of growing food exists! It's called Aquaponics. Aquaponics is a combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponics. It is one of the most sustainable and productive farming systems in the world!
Does all this sound too good to be true? Want to know more?
Explore this website and learn about this incredible system and its successes and applications around the world!
At a time of global climate change, depletion of resources, pollution of water and huge losses of top soil worldwide, there has never been a more important time to learn about Aquaponics!
Our Aquaponics Systems:
- Use up to 90% less water than conventional farming methods!
- Produce up to ten times more vegetables and crops in the same amount of space and time!
- Use up to 75% less energy than almost any other farming method!
- Are guaranteed to be free from chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and other chemicals!
- Require only about 1/2 the labor required by almost all other food production methods!
- Virtually eliminates weeds, pests, diseases, viruses and pathogens for both aquatic and plant life alike!
- Can be used in almost any situation and can range in size, from desk top systems to large scale commercial farms!
- Saves time, money and labor in all stages of production!
- Doesn't require soil, enabling otherwise 'undesirable' sites or land to be used to produces fresh, organic fish, vegetables, fruit and more!
in closed systems that require no soil allows us to farm soil and water outside the system!
We plant soil and water in our damaged and depleted landscapes which not only aids in the restoration of the soil, groundwater and native forests, but has the added benefit of offsetting greenhouse gases by removing carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere. This is one of the practices used in what we call 'Carbon Farming'.
Soils contain approximately 75% of the carbon pool on land — three times more than the amount stored in living plants and animals. Did you know that 1' of healthy top soil spread over 1 acre of land sequesters the same amount of carbon a healthy forest of the same size does annually? It is estimated that our crop and range lands lose 4 tons of topsoil every year for every person alive! That's 21 gigatons of soil washed or blown out to the sea and lost for productive use on land, releasing vast amounts of carbon in the process (New Scientist, December 2006).
Being able to use land considered 'Undesirable' by conventional farming; Aquaponic farmers have the added benefit of access to cheap lands and lease agreements. Often using otherwise unused space such as fill, gravel, concrete, abandoned commercial sites, even roof tops.