well with all this talk about CWD now affecting humans, i was thinking of another way to get meat. so i have had the idea before (talked about it a bit) but am going to set up a small aquaculture system, where i live we can raise trout and tilapia (with a permit for the tilapia). so i talked and thought about and going to be trying to set up what i call the aquatic research center (lol) so here is my plan on getting fresh fish year round.
tilapia (hoping i can get a permit for them) can get them any time of the year, from my local hatchery, from some research they take between 9-12 months to reach 1.5lbs so am hoping 9 months for 1 lb (hoping that is reasonable) and with a 300 gallon tank i hope to be able to raise some where between 20-60 fish (the plan is to start very small) at 1 lb each that is again between 20-60 lbs of fish (live weight) with a dress out of about 50% filleting them (i fillet every thing from pike to trout) that is about 10-30 lbs of fish fillets in 9 months of work (and by work i mean feeding and maybe topping water every week or so) then take a few months off for summer camping and start back up again in the fall.
Have you had much experience with fish tanks? While, on the surface (pun intended) aquaponics sounds like it would be easy, there is a vast difference between the theory, and the actuality. It takes a lot of intervention to monitor water quality. Something as simple as a plugged filter, or a few dead fish can turn the water into a toxic mess, either with high bacteria counts which raise the ammonia levels, or a drastic change in pH. pH levels even change during a 24 hour period, based on available light and how that interacts with plant matter.
I don't want to rain on your parade, and indeed aquaponics is on the back burner of my brain... for a future project. But... it's not quite as simple as it looks. Will be watching to see how well your system falls into place and becomes productive!