Aquaponics, with its fancy name, may sound like a trendy new concept developed by environmentalists. But it's actually as old as the hills.
The origins of aquaponics can be traced to ancient Egyptian and Aztec cultures.
The ancient Aztecs developed chinampas, man-made floating islands, which consisted of rectangular areas of fertile land on lake beds.
Aztecs cultivated maize, squash and other plants on the chinampas and fish in the canals surrounding them.
The fish waste settled on the bottom of the canals, and the Aztecs collected the waste to use as fertilizer.
Additionally, countries in the Far East like Thailand and China have long used aquaponic techniques in rice paddies.
