Fresh, farm to table fish, in Singapore? We checked out Our Fish Storey, a stackable fish farm located in the heart of Tampines, complete with a nearby coffee shop!
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Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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00:00Ooh, fresh seafood!
00:07But I've got fresher, follow me.
00:11The reality is that we will eat the last fish.
00:13So we've done it on land, we will do it in the sea.
00:16So how do we mitigate this?
00:17We know for a fact we will eat the last fish because that's how we are wired.
00:21So we need to provide alternatives.
00:24In this series, we'll explore how innovative technologies and local initiatives are rethinking
00:30the way we produce and consume food.
00:34Welcome to Future Food, where we explore the food production of tomorrow.
00:40We speak to Kelvin from Greenbridge Partners to get his take on fish farms.
00:46When you freeze seafood, you have to glaze it.
00:49The glazing typically is around 20 to 30 percent.
00:52Now, 30 percent is a lot.
00:54So let's say you ship a container of seafood to Singapore.
00:58Can you imagine the carbon footprint of shipping that container from Alaska?
01:02Because of the extra 30 percent weight.
01:04Exactly!
01:05So that 30 percent is water.
01:07So you're literally shipping water from Alaska to Singapore.
01:11So if you had that fish grown in Pasir Ris, you have the whole fish.
01:18There's no need for glazing.
01:20That's an extreme example.
01:21Actually, if you look at aquaculture, fish farming has been around for thousands of years.
01:28What has changed now is we have better technology and the water conditions are different then
01:33than they are now.
01:34So now we have to have vaccines for our fishes and then we also have specific species of
01:42sea bass, specific species of pomfret from Prano that is able to withstand more diseases.
01:50So if you look at Singapore, Thomastik Life Sciences are now spawning, they have a little
01:56catchment area in St. John Island where they're starting to play with that.
02:00In this episode, we head to Tampines to explore fish farming in the heartlands.
02:05I'll be meeting with the co-founder of Aqualita to learn more about this innovative project.
02:11Right behind me is a tank in the middle of the heartlands.
02:14We literally have a coffee shop right in front of us and I have my friend here, Brian, who
02:18will share more about Aqualita, a local fish farm.
02:23What you see behind us is Aqualita's aqua system.
02:26So basically, we have shrunken down an entire fish farm so much so that it fits inside a
02:3120-foot container.
02:33Right now, we have about 7-800 live jade perch fishes growing ready for harvest that we can
02:39provide to the Tampines round market that's just across the street from us.
02:43Our whole concept was to provide Singapore an avenue for food security and self-reliance.
02:49So one avenue for that is growing out our own fish.
02:52But in a landlocked country like Singapore, we can't have the traditional fish farms whereby
02:58we need a big piece of land, dig big ponds and have multiple people working on these
03:02ponds.
03:03So with the help from the Temasek Foundation and our research background from Temasek Life
03:08Sciences, we managed to innovate and create what is kind of like a fish condominium because
03:13not only can we grow a lot of fish in one container, but it's also stackable and scalable.
03:20We can scale up the size of the farm as and when we need it.
03:23So what we hope to do here is to provide fresh fish for the markets to sell to the people
03:29of Tampines.
03:30The idea being if we can grow the fish as close to the market as possible, it's very
03:35fresh, it's cheaper for the fishmongers because they don't have to pay for air freight, transportation,
03:40freezing.
03:41And also, I think we can work with the Tampines round market fishmongers in the sense they
03:46can anticipate what kind of fish they would like to sell in the upcoming seasons.
03:50For instance, Chinese New Year is coming and they want to grow a certain kind of fish,
03:53they can inform us and we can actually work together with them to grow out the fish they want.
03:58This sounds like an amazing concept, literally farm to table.
04:01Yes.
04:02Never thought I'll see this in Singapore, the freshness of all of that.
04:05That is the idea.
04:06I think end of the day, that is what Aqualita is meant to do, we're supposed to create
04:09a source of food security and self-reliance for Singapore.
04:13So how often do you harvest the fish?
04:15Right now, we do a harvest every week.
04:17So the fish that we grow here is available for purchase in the Tampines round market
04:21every Saturday and Sunday.
04:22Currently, we are growing this fish called the Jade Perch.
04:26It is an Australian fish that's not common in Singapore, but Aqualita decided why not
04:31try something new with our new system.
04:33This fish has a very high omega-3 contact content, which is a positive kind of a health
04:40trait that we want to see in our fish.
04:42It is quite similar in terms of omega-3 content to other well-known sources like salmon.
04:48And it's a very resilient freshwater fish as well.
04:51So I think that works well with us because we are testing out the system in Tampines,
04:55a resilient freshwater fish is also easier for us to rear right now.
04:59So what are Aqualita's primary goals?
05:02Since we have established a working prototype in the heartlands, our goal will be to expand
05:07beyond just having one Tampines site into multiple regions in Singapore.
05:12So if every different town in Singapore can have one system, it will be great.
05:16And also we are looking to expand in terms of to our neighbouring countries like to Indonesia,
05:21to Malaysia.
05:22So we can bring this concept of urbanised fish farming towards the region and hopefully
05:27increase the food production in our area.
05:30So it's more choices for Singapore.
05:32What has been the biggest challenge and how has Aqualita overcome it?
05:36I think Aqualita's biggest challenges was trying to create a farming culture and a system
05:41in Singapore where we are not a farming country.
05:44So what Aqualita's main goal was to create a modular and stackable system whereby we
05:50can scale up and scale down our farm anywhere with minimal land preparation required and
05:57also automate as much as we can.
05:59So we can minimise the amount of people that have to operate on this system.
06:03We also try to keep our entire system as sustainable and green as possible.
06:07So we minimise the electrical requirement, the input required from our system.
06:11So we don't need to have multiple pumps and blowers and whatnot in our fish farm.
06:18We try to use our technology to create the water turning effect so that we can keep as
06:24much fish in the system as possible, but we don't have to have such a big carbon footprint.
06:31Is this the only container right now in Singapore?
06:33No, we have three sites currently running.
06:36So this is one of them.
06:37We have our initial similar system back in our main office in NUS and also we have our
06:43big ACRAS Plus system, which is a combination of six tanks and one central filtration running
06:49currently in Sungai Tengah.
06:50They are all running quite successfully with different kinds of fish already tried and
06:55tested in the system.
06:57So besides Jade Perch, we have also grown successfully Sea Bass, the Hybrid Grouper, Tilapia.
07:03I think we're going to try to go on, maybe look into new fish, kind of fishes to suit
07:07the market's needs and requirements.
07:11So Brian, what's a typical workday like here at Aqualita?
07:14I think it's easy if I show you.
07:15Come.
07:16Let's go, let's have a look.
07:17Let's catch some fish!
07:19Wow, it smells like a real ecosystem, like natural body of water out there.
07:25Smells a little bit of poo poo, but not too much.
07:28How do you squeeze 700?
07:30Is this tank very deep and are they all hiding at the bottom?
07:34So I think this tank is about a meter deep.
07:37We have three compartments in this system, as you can see.
07:40So we try to stagger the harvesting of the fish so that we can create a constant supply
07:45to the market.
07:46For instance, if this tank in front of me is ready for harvest, the tank next to it
07:51will probably be about two months in terms of growth schedule behind this tank.
07:55So by the time we're done harvesting tank A, tank B is ready to go to the market.
07:59And that's how we create a stream of fish for about six to seven months, which is about
08:06the time required for the fish to grow to market size.
08:09Nice.
08:10So how do you keep the water clean?
08:12Okay, the water may look black and dirty now, but actually the water is clean because what
08:19we do in this system is we use 100% recycled water.
08:23So what we do is using our technology, we create the water movement in the system where
08:28we extract the fish waste, run it through our filtration system, whereby we remove the
08:33fish waste.
08:34And we also have a biological filtration which treats the water so that the water is safe
08:40and healthy environment for the fish to continue growing in.
08:42A biological filtration system?
08:44Yes.
08:45And where is that?
08:46That is right below where we are standing right now.
08:47It's below our feet.
08:48Oh wow, it's a very effective use of a very tight space.
08:51We've maximized, yes.
08:52That's what I mean when I say we've shrunken down the entire fish farm into so small it
08:56fits inside a 20-foot container.
08:58I'm not exaggerating.
08:59Yeah, and it can go on wheels as well, right?
09:01Like a farm on wheels.
09:02So anytime we want to move the system, we can just drain out the water, then we just
09:07crane this container onto a lorry, go to the next site.
09:09Wait, if you drain out the water, what happens to the fishes?
09:12Generally, when we change location, it means we're down at the fish harvest cycle, the
09:16fish are all harvested, so it's an empty system, then we just drain the water out.
09:21I see.
09:22So how do you ensure that the fish are healthy?
09:25It's quite easy.
09:26Firstly, we monitor water parameters on a daily to make sure that the water quality
09:30is fine.
09:31And also, we check the behavior of the fish, so every time when we feed the fish, we observe
09:36how active they are, how responsive they are to our feeding inputs, and we see how receptive
09:41they are every time we increase the amount of feed that we're feeding the fish.
09:44So that's a sign of fish health and activity, and how happy they are.
09:49So what do you feed them?
09:50For this system, we try to feed them very basic, commercially available feed.
09:55Same thing other fish farmers use, because we want to demonstrate that we don't need
09:58to feed a specific kind of fish feed, then our fish can grow in this system.
10:02So in this current system, we have about 7-800 fish still within our tanks.
10:08Comparatively, if you look at a traditional fish farm RES system, in those round blue
10:13tanks, we probably keep about 200 of them.
10:16So that's where the technology improves.
10:20So what's a typical workday like?
10:22So for my colleagues who take care of the system, it's actually very straightforward.
10:26Maybe once or twice a day for an hour or so, do the water test, check on the fish,
10:31feed the fish, that's it.
10:33It's done.
10:34Wow.
10:35So it's very efficient, so you can take care of multiple systems every single day, and
10:40we can generate more meaningful harvests with just using one guy, rather than traditional
10:46ponds whereby it's so busy, like 3-4 people just to take care of one pond.
10:50It's going to take you the whole day just to take care of that one pond.
10:52Because they don't have that ecosystem infiltration system going.
10:56So is it time for some fish and chips?
11:00Let's catch some fish up and let you take a look at it.
11:03For a moment I thought you're not.
11:05Do you need to touch the fish or anything?
11:08I can appreciate them from a distance.
11:13Somebody help me.
11:15This wasn't in my contract.
11:17I'm scared.
11:18I'll stand behind you.
11:18Sure.
11:23Wow, it's very deep.
11:24AHHHH!
11:27So, he's my human shield.
11:29Because the water is splashing like that.
11:31So here are some fish that we are growing in our container.
11:35So this is the Jade Perch fish that we are growing.
11:38They're about 350-400g now currently, which is what the market asked for.
11:44So as you can see, the fish are very active, splashing around, which is a good sign that
11:50they are healthy.
11:51They're still active.
11:52They're actually quite nice in colour.
11:54The fish is quite rounded in shape,
11:56so no injuries on the fish.
11:58So there's no signs of biting in a small confined space.
12:01So yeah, it's a good sign.
12:06Today, we saw how local fish farms are essential
12:09to Singapore's food security and sustainability.
12:13By supporting these initiatives,
12:14we can contribute to a more food-secure and eco-conscious future.
12:19In our next episode,
12:21we'll venture into the heartlands to further explore how farms
12:24can thrive within our city.
12:27Thanks for joining us today,
12:28and I'll see you next time on Future Food.
12:31Bloop bloop.
12:32Bloop bloop.
12:33Bloop bloop.
12:34It's so fresh, can we eat sashimi?
12:36My producer loves to eat sashimi, right?
12:38Right?
12:39You see?
12:40I don't think this fish can be sashimi-ed.
12:43He just turned the word sashimi into a verb.
12:45It cannot be sashimi-ed.
12:47Cannot be sashimi-ed.
12:47Why?
12:48Ah, I don't think this is a sashimi-able fish.
12:52This guy is so creative.