Aquaculture
and Fisheries Research Center
PIs: Fred
Binkowski, Rick Goetz, John
Janssen, Matt Rise, Brian
Shepherd
Aquaculture —
In Wisconsin, resource conditions for Aquaculture
(i.e., fish farming) are well suited for both cold
water and cool water species. These include trout,
salmon, whitefish, ciscoes, walleye and perch–all
of which are marketable. With changes in the state's
economic picture, there have been some losses in
important industries. The "infant" business of Aquaculture
may be an excellent catalyst for increasing entrepreneurship
and employment. Indeed, with the dairy industry
decline, Aquaculture may be the perfect mechanism
for rural regeneration and contribute significantly
to Wisconsin's economic development.
The WATER Institute's Aquaculture project is
concerned primarily with the development of practical
rearing techniques for, and the domestication of,
suitable regional fish species. Our goal is to support
the development and growth of the regional Aquaculture
industry for commercial food production, as well
as fish propagation in support of conservation and
fisheries management efforts.
Since 1985, we have provided Aquaculture rearing
information through the UW Sea Grant Advisory Services
Program. Under its auspices, several thousand people
have attended Aquaculture conferences, workshops
and lectures. This outreach effort provides invaluable
information to both current and prospective Aquaculture
entrepreneurs. Because of the rapid growth and relative
infancy of this field, there is a critical need
for state-of-the-art information on the fundamental
principles of animal husbandry, water quality, economics,
and engineering aspects of Aquaculture technology.
When feasible, we respond to individual requests
for information and conduct on-site visits at the
WATER Institute. Through this advisory service,
we intend to transfer up-to-date research and propagation
methods to the developing regional Aquaculture industry.
Fisheries
Research — Propagation studies have focused
on a broad spectrum of Great Lakes regional species,
but primarily on yellow perch, lake sturgeon, whitefish,
pacific salmon, lake trout, hybrid striped bass
and sunfish. These studies have also involved improvements
in rearing system technology for water usage reduction.
The Aquaculture and Fisheries Research Center has
installed a commercially scaled recirculating Aquaculture
system (RAS) at the GLWI. In collaboration with
Native American and private commercial fish producers,
this system has been used to conduct an investigation
of the technological and economic feasibility of
RAS units for yellow perch grow-out.
For more information about the Aquaculture and
Fisheries Research Center, contact Fred Binkowski, sturgeon@uwm.edu.
Fisheries
Ecology (Janssen Lab)
USDA ARS
