Introduction
A valuable and sustainable approach for food security could be the further expansion of aquaponics production. Aquaponics is the combination of fish farming in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and cultivation of plants in water (hydroponic). Research on the sustainability of aquaponics is focused on system water quality parameters and availability of nutrients for the three components: the plants, the fish, and the bacteria (Tyson et al., 2011; König, et al., 2016). The technology works as a closed loop system that reduces the consumption of fresh water compared to conventional monocultures and uses the nutrients excreted by the fish as fertilizer for the plants. Nitrogen uptake depends on the plants species that play an important role in avoiding the accumulation of NO3-in aquaponics. In addition, carbohydrate addition to aquaculture systems stimulates heterotrophic bacteria growth that results in the removal of inorganic nitrogen through assimilation. Thus, all fish waste and feed nutrients can be utilized and recycled (Graber and Junge-Berberovic, 2009). The need for technological advancements is also addressed (König et al., 2016).
Aquaponic technology can help meet the goals of establishing large-scale, eco-efficient and economically viable aquaponic farming projects, especially by using existing technological advantages to monitor the aquaponics system through mobile devices with minimum involvement in recording management tasks. Such a system to the knowledge of the authors is not currently available in the market and can highly contribute to the future development of sustainable aquaponics production in the Mediterranean region. The technological change in aquaponics ensures that it is maximizing the quality of the farmed products, while improving resource efficiency and minimizing impacts. In addition, young farmers can nowadays use the available technology to supervise their farms online. The purpose of this editorial paper is to highlight current market needs for an affordable technological solution used in such a multidisciplinary system, both on a small scale and a more complex commercial scale.