Pet Project

For many people, tropical fish are the perfect pet, but most of us never stop to think where they come from. Tim Hennessey is one of the owners of Ekkwill Waterlife Resources in Gibsonton, Florida. Stop by his “ranch” and you’ll find rows and rows of tanks that are temporary homes for his “herd” of tropical fish. The Hennessey family farm began in 1979 when Tim and his wife gave up their shrimp farming business to take on a new challenge. Handling such exotic fish as “reticulated pleckos” and “celestial eyes”, the Hennesseys began selling aquaculture pets and plants to stores across the country.

Today, the business has grown into the largest tropical fish/aquaculture facility in the world. Ekkwill Waterlife Resources will ship over 100 tons of live fish each month. That’s about six million fish! Half of Florida’s total aquaculture sales come from ornamental fish making it an important part of the state’s agricultural income.

But there are challenges for tropical fish producers these days. Ekkwill’s business is half what it was when sales peaked in 1995. There is competition from large pet store chains along with a seemingly diminishing interest in keeping exotic fish as pets. Tim Hennessey says, “It used to be that kids had aquariums, but now young people have more diversions and more alternatives. That means they’re spending more time with electronics, video games and the internet.”

To face these challenges, the firm now packs and ships its fish instead of using distributors. They’ve taken over deliveries to regional stores and they quickly change stock to meet demands. Even with the concerns, however, Tim says it’s still a great business, “Where else can you come to work in flip flops and shorts?” He says they will continue to shape their efforts to current situations and “keep the family business afloat”.

Ekkwill Waterlife Resources:
www.ekkwill.com