By using the waste of Koi fish to grow fresh produce, Vancouver Island University (VIU) engineering student Jayden Corbeil (Iversen) is hoping to improve food supply issues in remote communities with an open-source aquaponics project.
A collaboration with the Haiɫzaqv Climate Action Team from Bella Bella in the central coast of B.C., the Hesquiaht member's capstone project looks at manufacturing a small-scale, semi-automated aquaponics system. The project will be placed in a classroom at the Bella Bella Community School.
Haiɫzaqv Climate Action Team hopes to eventually upscale Corbeil's proof-of-concept aquaponics system to a larger unit to increase food security for their region. "The big goal is to remove reliance on external suppliers," said Corbeil, the 2019 Alberni District Secondary School Valedictorian.
"I don't want people to have to rely on the grocery store to get food. I don't want people to have to rely on the barge coming in with their shipments of goods to feed themselves," he continued. "I would really like to see a future where communities are growing all their own food and if the supply chain is disrupted or we lose contact, it's not going to put us in a state of starvation." Corbeil says the beauty of the aquaponics system is that it's sustainable, scalable and reliable.
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