The Blog that Ate the Upper Midwest - Fish Farm!

I went out with some friends to a fish farm today. They raise trout in a bunch of tanks and ponds, and market them in a few local stores, to restaurants, and to people who come out to fish (or just to eat the fish) on the farm.

It's a pretty cool operation. They're able to use water from the aquifer, and put it through the tanks and ponds, and return it to the aquifer, and they say there's been no damage to the aquifer in the 20+ years they've been operating. The water keeps moving so it doesn't freeze in winter, too.

I had a buffalo burger. I know it's not fish, but I felt like something different, and it was good! They also served rice and apples sprinkled with some spices, and all was good.

They were nice enough to give us a tour of the fish growing tanks, and it was interesting. They move the fish based on size, every couple of months, so that in the final tank, they've got restaurant ready fish. They harvest year around, so a restaurant getting fish from here gets really fresh fish even in winter. It seems like they've put a lot of thought into how to use minimal energy (pumping water, feeding, transporting) to run a pretty sustainable farm.

(With a nod to The Blog that Ate Manhattan, of course!)