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Courtesy of NAA:

The United States is the largest importer of seafood products in the world – importing 5.9 billion pounds of seafood in 2017 alone, resulting in about $14 billion of the U.S. trade deficit. More than 50 percent of seafood consumed comes from aquaculture. Yet, less than 1 percent is produced in the U.S. While the U.S. has the capacity to meet domestic demand for seafood by expanding aquaculture in federal waters and land-based recirculating systems, the warm water finfish aquaculture industry is struggling to grow and unable to fill the demand for high quality fish products.

Scientists from Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, one of the university’s four research pillars, will partner with future U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists to address this problem. This year, FAU’s Harbor Branch has received $2.4 million from the USDA to help initiate a project that will boost the nation’s aquaculture industry.

This partnership will include FAU’s Harbor Branch faculty who are uniquely skilled in warm water finfish research and development, and have led the way in advancing aquaculture in Florida, the U.S., as well as globally for more than 40 years; and the USDA-ARS’ National Program for Aquaculture, whose mission is to conduct research and deliver technologies that improve domestic aquaculture production efficiency and product quality while minimizing impacts on natural resources. FAU’s Harbor Branch will host three new USDA scientists on their campus who have expertise in genetics, fish nutrition and health.

FAU’s Harbor Branch project will initially focus on Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) as model species for improvement. The FAU-HBOI and USDA ARS research team will conduct research related to reproduction, nutrition and fish health to improve reliability and efficiency of seed stock production. The team will develop selective breeding methods for genetic improvement of warm water marine finfish for optimum production efficiency in a variety of warm water marine aquaculture systems. Broodstock and breeding programs will be a key strategy for increasing sustainable food production.