Angela Caporelli realizes Kentucky is a farming state, but she wants to bring a different kind of farming to light. In fact, it’s her job.
As aquaculture coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Caporelli has assisted farmers all over Kentucky who decide to raise schools instead of herds. She consulted with Northpoint Training Center when it made ponds on the grounds for prisoners to harvest freshwater tilapia and prawn, as well as farmers in eastern Kentucky who have turned old coal mines into trout havens.
She also educates consumers about why they should buy local products, and makes herself available to those who want to start their own sustainable watershed pond — even if only to feed their families.
“It’s all about sustainability. We have to feed-in, feed-out,”¿Caporelli says. She says it’s the way of the future — a way to feed an entire population with high protein for relatively low cost. And she’s done the research to prove it.
Life&Times: Farmer's of the Future? State employee educates public on sustainability, why to buy local
Out at sea
A Rhode Island native, Caporelli’s degree is in aquaculture and resource development, which she applied while in the Peace Corps teaching people in Central Africa how to build fisheries. She moved to the Bluegrass 10 years ago to promote aquaculture with the state.
“There’s just not as much emphasis on aquaculture in this area, or the U.S. It’s easy for a bank to look at a herd of cattle and give a loan based on it. It’s harder to do with fish,”¿she says. “We’re a cattle country. There’s big lobbyists for it.”
She says many environmental groups are not hip to aquaculture due to overfishing claims. But she sees it differently.
Previously, Caporelli ran an observer program where she collected data while going on lengthy commercial fishing trips. She was amazed at the number of rules and regulations affecting them.
“They’ve fished as sustainably as they can. Some of the regulations almost force them to overfish,” she says. She explains fishing quotas are set by the National Marine Fishery Service, based on several things such as history and the time of year.
“Once the quota is met for haddock, for instance, if groups are out fishing for cod and they net some haddock in with it, they have to throw back the haddock. Most go back dead,”¿Caporelli says, which usually leads to only a 10 percent take on a one-ton drag. “It actually causes overfishing. Fish don’t swim singularly. It’s called an ecosystem.”
Why buy local
