Corralitos man sees future of food in fish farming, starts aquaponics facility

Chris Newman remembers when greenhouses ruled the Pajaro Valley and California's cut-flower business flourished worldwide.

Lamenting the industry's decline, Newman, 58, sees a way to make use of the now-empty nurseries done in by foreign competitors and restore the glory of the once regal greenhouse. It's called aquaponics, a combination of aquaculture fish farming and hydroponics growing plants in water, and Newman has set out to do it in a former rose-growing facility off Casserly Road.