Abstract

Over the course of the last 100 years, the human population has grown rapidly. There is not enough food on the planet to nourish our growing population, and as a result of this, wild stocks of fish in our oceans are depleting. Aquaculture, the breeding and rearing of fish for human consumption, provides a way to produce mass amounts of fish products, and to nourish the population, but there are some sustainability problems that must be addressed first. This Independent Study focuses on three barriers to a sustainable aquaculture facility: feed inputs, wastewater management, and social acceptability. These barriers are addressed through a series of ten real-world business case analyses evaluated on a sustainability scale, complemented by an evaluation of an at home aquaponics kit that was built and observed in the Williams Hall greenhouse on the College of Wooster campus. Results showed that sustainable aquaculture is highly variable across different operations, with wastewater management being the most achievable, feed inputs being very challenging, and social acceptability was found with the lowest average sustainability score. The aquaponics feasibility experiment was successful and demonstrated that small scale systems can be relied upon to provide fresh produce on a family scale, year-round with minimal maintenance. It is my hope that this study fills in knowledge gaps as to how we can operate aquaculture facilities in a sustainable manner.

Advisor

Mariola, Matthew

Department

Environmental Studies

Disciplines

Animal Sciences | Aquaculture and Fisheries

Keywords

Aquaculture, Aquaponics, Wastewater Management, Sustainability, Feed Inputs, Social Acceptability

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2026 Isabella I. Cozzie