Fish farming, which has been touted as a possible way to diversify Elkhart County's economy, appears to be swimming against a strong current.
The idea, championed by Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder in this Elkhart Project piece published in early April, envisions converting unused RV factories to commercial fish farms.
But as detailed in this update from Tuesday's Elkhart Truth, there are numerous hurdles to be overcome before the county can become an aquaculture center.
Chief among them: Fish farms could not be hooked up to public water supply, which would require numerous wells to be dug, and the RV plants that Yoder has examined so far could not be expanded if the operation took off.
Yoder also told the newspaper that it doesn't appear that a fish farm would be eligible for federal stimulus funding because, initially at least, it wouldn't create enough jobs.
Yoder hasn't abandoned the idea, though, and he has a new fish in mind: Perch. He is in discussions with Bell Aquaculture of Redkey, Ind., to see if it would be feasible to use the company's technology to get a yellow perch farm up and running. Bell Aquaculture, which operates the nation's largest perch farm in Albany, Ind., also would process any fish raised in Elkhart County.



