Mercy is that which God likes Most

8:39 AM in Aqua, god, is, likes, mercy, most, that, which

"Let us abandon all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us live the joy of encounter with the grace that transforms all."   -Pope Francis

The Cloisters Museum, New York

On Dec. 8, Pope Francis launched the Jubilee Year of Mercy, an effort to focus the mission of the church and of the faithful on mercy and forgiveness rather than on judgment. This is a call for both individuals and for the institution.

"This Extraordinary Holy Year is itself a gift of grace," Francis said during the homily at a Mass in which he proclaimed the start of this extraordinary effort. "To enter through the Holy Door means to rediscover the deepness of the mercy of the Father who welcomes all and goes out to meet everyone personally."

"If we were to forget, even just for a moment, that mercy is that which God likes most, every one of our labors would be useless because we would become slaves of our institutions and our structures, however renewed they might be," the pope said the next day at his general audience in St. Peters Square. "We would always be slaves."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops offers five suggestions on how to answer this call to be merciful. In a post on the USCCBs Go Forth blog, education and outreach director Jill Rauh invites us to Pray for awareness of God in our own lives, to Pray with the Gospel, to Encounter, to Prepare to be Merciful, and to Realize that We are all in this Together.

"These exercises for prayer and reflection are only a start. Preparing our hearts for the Jubilee Year can help us live out Pope Francis’ vision in Evangelii Gaudium of a Church, which, “guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice” and responds to Jesus’ command by Mark 6:37 (full context, Mark 6: 30-44) by “working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty” (no. 188)," said Ruah. "We start with prayer, then reach out to encounter others. Then we learn and discern together about how we might be called to act. The Jubilee Year of Mercy is the perfect opportunity to engage this process." Read full  blog post

Read more

What is an Aquaculture Technician

2:07 PM in an, Aqua, aquaculture, is, technician, what

Also known as "Fish Farmers" or "Fish Farm Workers", Aquaculture Technicians are the front line and the core workers responsible for maintaining fish farms and in ensuring proper husbandry of the farms livestock.

Technicians raise and harvest fish, shellfish, and plants in fresh or salt water. The fish and plant life they grow are sold for food or used to replenish wildlife stocks for recreational or commercial fishing.

Aquaculture workers are the first to see and respond to any problems with production. They are normally responsible for feeding the stock and calculating how much food is needed. Another key task is to maintain optimal water quality through monitoring and control. A fish farmer at times will need to check the stock for stress, health and disease and take preventive or remedial action when necessary. They also collect and record growth and production data and are involved in the harvesting of market sized fish and the stocking of young.

In a land based “tank farm” technicians may be required to install, operate, maintain and clean pumps, filters and other equipment. They will need to clean - maintain tanks and “raceways” used to hold and grow the fish. Farm technicians will undertake basic record keeping and reporting in both written and verbal formats. Workers may also be required to clean and prepare the fish for market.

Aquaculture technicians may be required to work both indoors and outside. The work outdoors may be in all kinds of weather. The tasks "chores" can be physically demanding and include some lifting and carrying.

The Aquaculture technician must be ready to do a variety of work tasks. They are usually given a good deal of responsibility and much of the time could be working unsupervised. Good observational skills and plenty of patience are required.

Aquaculture is more than a job; like land farming, it’s a way of life. Technicians often work seven days a week, with time off after. Shift work is common, including weekends and holidays. Aquaculture workers are employed by private aquaculture operations, government fish hatcheries and experimental aquatic farms.

In the course of their career, the right person can advance and become manager or owner of an aquaculture operation, supervising other technicians and operations. To become a manager or owner, good administrative skills, practical experience, and a high level of technical understanding are required and they must know how to deal with people. A technician seeking self-employment also needs to be a good business planner and long term “thinker”, since it may take two to three years before the stock they raise is sold.

Many technicians (with the desire) have gone on to become self-employed, owning and operate their own aquaculture farms, after the gaining experience and practical knowledge required and after evaluating the risks and commitments involved in owning a business.

Related Links and articles:
" Overview of an Aquaculture Technician Training Program "
"Aquaculture Industry Jobs and Employment"

Read more

Climate Change is an Ethical and Moral Concern

6:41 PM in an, and, Aqua, change, climate, concern, ethical, is, moral

The Circo for the Community fundraiser on Saturday, March 5, will benefit five organizations, including New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light (NMIPL). Here is a preview of a full video that will be shown at the fundraiser, which will also benefit the New Mexico Conference of Churches, La Mesa Arts Academy, the New Mexico Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice (NMFCIJ) and the Albuquerque Aerialist Collective.  (We posted a video from the NMFCIJ earlier this week).Tickets are $35 and can be purchased on the NMCC site or at the door (you can write a check for any of these organizations). The cost of the ticket includes dinner and a reception.

Read more

Aquaponics Is organic by default

3:35 AM in Aqua, aquaponics, by, default, is, organic

Read more

What is Aquaponics

10:30 AM in Aqua, aquaponics, is, what

Read more

My Dream is to End World Hunger

3:35 AM in Aqua, dream, end, hunger, is, my, to, world

Through photography children share their innermost feelings. The opportunity to reveal their dreams in photographs shows each child how much their dreams MATTER! Their hopes and dreams captured in quiet moments tell a story that few adults can imagine. "When you show children that you care about what they dream for in life, perhaps a child who never felt he or she had self worth, now will."  -Linda Solomon

When Emily, then 7 years old,  she was presented the opportunity to express her dreams via a photograph. Her dream was the very grown-up goal to end world hunger.

Emily was one of 19 homeless children in Albuquerque who were afforded this opportunity back in 2012. Darrionte, then 8 years old, is featured in an article published in The Albuquerque Journal on Sept. 6, 2012.

With the support of local car dealership Galles Chevrolet, the pictures were made into a set of greeting cards, which the Barrett Foundation  sold in 2012. Even though the cards were created three years ago, they still touch our hearts and are still very relevant today.

A national project
Project director, renown photographer Linda Salomon, has brought  Pictures of Hope to children living in shelters in Tucson, El Paso, Philadelphia, New York City, Flint, Michigan, Tulsa, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Kansas City, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and Albuquerque.

Heres how it works. Solomon presents a photo tutorial to the children at each shelter. At the conclusion of the tutorial, the children are surprised with digital cameras donated by Walgreens and given their first photo assignment as young photojournalists. Each child has a Picture of Hope card showcasing one of their photographs. All the children in each city celebrate with their mentors at the "Meet The Young Artist" receptions when the Pictures of Hope cards are launched. Its a special day no one will ever forget.

On her website, the photographer explains her motivation. "The numbers of homeless children in the US are the highest in our history, 2.5 million. One out of thirty children are homeless," said Ms. Solomon. "The mission of Pictures of Hope is to change lives, one life at a time. We show each child there is hope and they are not forgotten. Pictures of Hope touches the soul of each child we meet."

Read more

Advent Reflection God is Present with Our Neighbor

5:29 PM in advent, Aqua, god, is, neighbor, our, present, reflection, with

In todays text, (Luke 4: 14-30)  I hear Jesus telling the people whom he is physically with (God with us) that God is also present with our neighbor. I sense an invitation to consider that Gods abundance necessarily means that there is room for someone else, other than us, to also be blessed by God. Our willingness to accept the breadth of Gods abundance means that we can dispel our notions of scarcity that keep our fists clenched.   -Rev. Ruth T. West, San Francisco Theological Seminary   (from Advent Reflection, Blessings Just for Us?)

Read more

No Catch Cod is Branded

1:26 PM in Aqua, branded, catch, cod, is, no

Sustainable seafood firm adds cod brand
by Jennifer Whitehead Marketing 24 May 2006

LONDON - Johnson Sustainable Seafoods is launching a fresh fish brand called No Catch ...Just Cod, targeting ethically aware, health-conscious shoppers.

No Catch, which will be available in Tesco from 29 May, comes from the worlds biggest cod hatchery in Shetland. The fish are fed offcuts of fish already harvested and have no contact with pesticides or dyes.

The packaging, through brand and design consultancy Bryt, is a departure from traditional fish branding and highlights the brands ethical credentials. The packaging emphasises the products origins and that it is "tasty, totally natural fish". It adds that it is the worlds first organic, sustainable cod and uses the line "Good for you, great for fish".

Although cod is a favourite among consumers, there has been concern about its rapidly diminishing stocks, leading to restrictions on cod fishing in the Irish Sea, North Sea and off West Scotland.

Source: DesignBulletin

Read more

Why Round is Better All Around

9:33 AM in all, Aqua, around, better, is, round, why

Just because I havent been blogging doesnt mean I havent been busy.  It means I have been too busy to blog!

Here in South Florida, what every one else calls winter is what we call our growing season.  It is the only time when temperatures, humidity levels, and rainfall all fall back into levels that support hearty and healthy plant growth.

In our own aquaponic systems we have mints, onions, peppers, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, eggplant, arugula and endive chugging along.  In soil we have tomatoes and peppers.  Each and everyone has appeared to have had a very merry Christmas and are starting off the new year great.

Things werent the same over at the Together We Stand gardens.  The aerator to the fish tanks gave up the ghost. Fish croaked (and these fish are tilapia not croakers - a totally different fish but I digress).  Ammonia levels spiked. Fish croaked.  Ammonia levels went higher.  Well you get the picture.  We were stuck in a closed loop of high ammonia levels and dead fish.  Significant water changes were only making a marginal difference.  We lost over 60 fish in one day!  At this rate, this aquaponic garden was not going to survive.  It was time for detective work.

We started with what we knew to be true.  Aeration had been restored.  Dissolved oxygen should not be the culprit. Even after a couple of 60% water changes ammonia levels continued to be off the charts. The fish were not being fed so they werent making the ammonia and after removing the dead fish the levels did not come down.  There had to be something we were missing....and there was.

The fish tanks in use are designed with grooves on the inside for placing dividers.  The bottom of the tank is a series of three inverted pyramids.  This is supposed to allow the grower to divide the tank into three areas to separate fish of different sizes.  If you dont understand the description, here is a picture (which should be good for at least 1,000 words).

In reality what this actually does is provide a very deep area in which something like a dead fish can settle. Yes folks, that is what turned out to be the source of our ammonia problem.  After draining the tanks down  to about 25% we were able to see the 13 dead fish that had settled in those inverted pyramids.  When the aerator failed, not all the fish that died had floated. Some had settled and that was the source of the ammonia.  Once those areas were cleaned and the tanks refilled, the ammonia levels  went down and stayed down. I dont want to live those 2 days again.  But, with the mystery solved on the third day we were back on track. 

Dr. James Rakocy, the father of aquaponics has always advocated for round fish tanks.  You cant hide in the corners if there arent any corners.  Now even though these tanks have radius corners at the edges, they still have corners of a sort on the bottom.  So to the adage that tanks should be round, lets add that they should have flat bottoms.

After all, how can your garden survive if the fish themselves cant survive?

Read more