Aquaculture involves the controlled rearing of aquatic animals and plants for food or natural resource enhancement. For many years scientists have realized that the wild-capture fisheries throughout the world have expanded to their limit, and any future increase in the production of seafood products will come from aquaculture.

Due to the expanding U.S. population and increasing awareness of the health benefits of seafood in our diets, the demand for seafood products continues to soar. More and more seafood is being imported into the U.S., and in 1999 the U.S. trade deficit in seafood was over $7 billion, ranking third among all imported products.

During the last decade the commercial culture of food fish in the U.S. has increased at an annual rate of greater than 15%, making it the fastest growing sector of food production in the country. The U.S. aquaculture industry is currently valued at over $1 billion.

Today, Wisconsin boasts a well-established aquaculture industry. According the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state ranks as the nation's fifth largest producer of rainbow trout, and more than 350 fish farmers raise a variety of food, game, and bait fish.

1977 B.S., Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
1989 M.S., Zoology, University of Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
1994 Ph.D., Endocrinology- Reproductive Physiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

File last updated: January 24, 2005
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