In honor of last month's U.S. Department of Education press release on February 27 proclaiming February 2026 as National Career and Technical Education Month, Aquaponics USA has released a statement that is offered in that same spirit.
"As the saying goes, it is better late than never.
Aquaponics is gaining traction in Career and Technical Education (CTE) landscapes, particularly within the AgriScience program area (CTE CIP code 01.0000.00) under the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).
Arizona's CTE AgriScience programs focus on preparing students for careers in agriculture, including sustainable practices, aquaculture, horticulture, and related fields. While Aquaponics is not always listed as a standalone course or required standard in state-level program descriptions, it is commonly incorporated as a hands-on component, lab activity, or extension within aquaculture, hydroponics, or controlled environment agriculture topics.
Aquaponics USA wants to take the "not" out of the sentence, "While Aquaponics is not always listed as a standalone course or required standard in state-level program descriptions …." According to Aquaponics USA's CEO, Oliver Duffy, "Arizona's CTE Programs would benefit greatly by making Aquaponics a standalone course."
Arizona faces ongoing drought and water shortages, driven by a multi-decade mega-drought in the Colorado River Basin, exacerbated by climate change, hotter temperatures, reduced snowpack, and chronic overuse of the river. Climate change threatens food security, and Aquaponics offers the most important mitigating solution available, Water Conservation, because it operates within a closed-loop Water System where the only water loss is through plant uptake and evaporation. No water is lost in the ground.
Often, Aquaponics has been considered gardening, and. if offered, it has been hidden in School Garden Programs. "Calling Aquaponics gardening does it a terrible disservice," said Grace Sylke, the AUSA Marketing Director. "Aquaponics is Water Conserving Multi-Crop Farming of the Future, and deserves to be featured not only in Arizona CTE Programs but nationally."
Water Conservation is only one of the mitigating factors that Aquaponics offers to combat climate change and food scarcity. Aquaponics is the answer to Soil degradation because it doesn't use any Soil. Vegetables grown in an Aquaponics System are often grown right in the recirculating water or held in Grow Beds full of man-made expanded clay.
Soil degradation results in nutrient loss, erosion, compaction, salinization, and reduced organic matter. This process threatens agricultural productivity, ecosystems, and food security across the United States, with Arizona facing amplified challenges due to its arid climate and water scarcity.
And finally, Aquaponics solves the problem caused by the overuse of inorganic chemical Fertilizers that have long been known to cause widespread ecosystem damage through nutrient pollution that leads to runoff and leaching, disrupting natural balances in soil, water,
© Aquaponics USA and air. Aquaponics does not need to use these harmful Fertilizers as the second crop in this Multi-Crop growing technology are Food Fish that fertilize the plants.
"Arizona's CTE Programs would benefit greatly by making Aquaponics a standalone course," said Oliver Duffy, CEO Aquaponics USA (pictured right).
Aquaponics is high-tech Farming that happens in environments that are protected from Climate Change, do not use Soil or synthetic Fertilizers, and do not even depend on the Sun as highly efficient LED Grow Lights utilized during off-peak hours take the place of sunshine.
Aquaponics USA is taking this Story straight to Arizona School District Superintendents in brief sit-down Meetings to encourage their full adoption of Aquaponics in their CTE Programs and preferably to use AUSA's Complete Aquaponics Program that comes with 688 Pages of rigorous Science Curriculum for all Grade Levels."
For more information:
Grace Sylke
Aquaponics USA
+1 760-671-3053
[email protected]
