Aquaculture in the Imperial Valley -- A geothermal success story
- Geo-Heat Center, Klamath Falls, OR (United States)
The Salton Sea and Imperial Valley area of southern California has long been recognized as a hot spot of geothermal development. In the geothermal industry, this area has for some time been synonymous with electric power generation projects. Starting with the first plant in East Mesa in 1979, geothermal power has increased over the years to the present 400+ MW of installed capacity in the three primary areas of Salton Sea, Heber and East Mesa. Although most in the industry are aware of the millions of kilowatt-hours annually produced in this desert oasis of development, they remain surprisingly uninformed about the Valley`s other geothermal industry -- aquaculture. At present, there are approximately 15 fish farming (or aquaculture) operations clustered, for the most part, around the Salton Sea. All of these farms use geothermal fluids to control the temperature of the fish culture facilities so as to produce larger fish in a shorter period of time and to permit winter production which would otherwise not be possible. In aggregate, these farms produce on the order of 10,000,000 lbs of fish per year most of which is sold into the California market. Principle species are catfish, striped bass and tilapia. For the past several years, tilapia has been the fastest growing part of the aquaculture industry. In 1996, the total US consumption of tilapia was 62,000 lbs. Of this, only 16,000,000 lbs (26%) was domestically produced and the balance imported. The primary market for the fish on the West Coast is among the Asian-American populations in the major cities. Fish are shipped and sold liver at the retail level.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG07-90ID13040
- OSTI ID:
- 338606
- Journal Information:
- Geo-Heat Center Quarterly Bulletin, Journal Name: Geo-Heat Center Quarterly Bulletin Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 20; ISSN GCQBDW; ISSN 0276-1084
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Geothermal development in California's Imperial Valley
Imperial County geothermal development annual meeting: summary