---
title: "Scientists Suggest Farming Fish on the Moon"
description: "Scientists suggest putting a fish farm on the Moon after discovering that seabass and meagre eggs could survive the rough journey."
date: "2021-03-02"
modified: "2021-03-02"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/farming-fish-moon"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "food"
  - "moon village"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Suggest Farming Fish on the Moon

![Scientists suggest putting a fish farm on the Moon after discovering that seabass and meagre eggs could survive the rough journey.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/fishmoon.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Roozbeh Eslami via Unsplash / Futurism\</em\>*

## Fishy Situation

A team of French scientists has a pressing concern. When the European Space Agency constructs its [planned Moon Village](<https://futurism.com/esas-plan-for-a-moon-village-is-slowly-starting-to-come-together>), what exactly are the astronauts supposed to eat?

Thankfully, they have a plan: farming fish on the Moon using live eggs shipped from Earth and water harvested from the lunar surface, *[Hakai Magazine ](<https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-plan-to-rear-fish-on-the-moon/>)*[reports](<https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-plan-to-rear-fish-on-the-moon/>). It sounds outlandish to consider raising animals on the Moon in the nearish future, but at the very least the scientists found that the fish could survive the trip, offering a glimpse of hope that astronauts will get to eat more appetizing meals than [pre-packaged food from Earth](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/iss-americans-give-russians-food>).

## Fine Dining

To test the idea, scientists from the Montpellier University Space Centre and the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER) packed seabass and meagre eggs — which they felt were hardier than adult fish — into instruments that vibrated and shook them to recreate the experience of blasting off in a [Russian Soyuz rocket](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-launches-final-soyuz-nasa-astronauts>). Impressively, 76 percent of the seabass eggs and 95 percent of the meagre eggs still hatched, [according to the study](<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10499-020-00601-5>) they published in the journal *Aquaculture International* last year — numbers comparable to the eggs that weren't shaken at all.

"It was completely crazy," IFREMER scientist and lead researcher Cyrille Przybyla told *Hakai*. "The environment was very hard for these eggs."

## Earthly Reminders

Aside from [the dietary benefits](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronauts-feast-space-grown-vegetables>), the researchers also think that their proposed lunar fish farm will make life in the Moon Village more enjoyable, as it could serve as a reminder of home.

"From the psychological point of view, it's better to have a reminder of Earth," Przybyla told *Hakai*, "you have a garden, you have a tank with fish."

**READ MORE:** [The Plan to Rear Fish on the Moon](<https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-plan-to-rear-fish-on-the-moon/>) \[*Hakai Magazine*\]

**More on space food:** *[NASA Let Astronauts Feast on Space-Grown Vegetables](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-astronauts-feast-space-grown-vegetables>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)