Improvising solutions, reducing losses: closed system fish farmers in Western Massachusetts

In this article, I examine a closed-system, recirculating aquaculture operation in New England growing Australasian Barramundi to be sold alive to the East Asian diaspora in cities across North America. I center on the development, through trial and error, of a hydrolysate fertilizer product that has the potential to repurpose much of the operation's waste, including the dead fish that constitute routine operational losses. I argue that improvisation on the part of self-identified fish farmers at small and midsize closed-system farms is leading to improvements in fish health as well as the reduction and repurposing of waste. I draw on practice theory and the concept of "bricolage" to demonstrate how individual agency and improvisation reduce the environmental harm of finfish aquaculture operations and thereby contribute to broader sustainability goals.