Duluth, Minn. — Aquaculture, the practice of raising aquatic organisms such as fish and shrimp, has enormous potential for sustainable seafood production, but aquaculture in the Great Lakes region has not kept pace with increasing consumer demand for fish and seafood, and the region is lagging behind behind progress in maritime littoral states. Minnesota Sea Grant is working to address this problem.
“Significant challenges to the development of aquaculture in the Great Lakes region include a lack of consumer awareness of what aquaculture is, the absence of social acceptance or social permission by some in local communities, and how to successfully grow fish indoors in Minnesota. Amy stated. Schrank, Minnesota Sea Grant Program Extension Officer and Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension Educator.
Minnesota Sea Grant Fisheries and Aquaculture Program staff will present recent and ongoing projects addressing these challenges at the Aquaculture America 2024 conference in San Antonio, Texas, February 18-21, 2024.
“Our ultimate goal is to equip consumers with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions at the seafood counter, thereby supporting the development of a sustainable aquaculture industry,” said Schrank. “A better seafood-savvy public empowers consumers to make choices that align with health and environmental values.”
The conference will feature several of Minnesota Sea Grant's ongoing aquaculture-focused projects that aim to engage youth and adults using age-appropriate science-based materials and interventions.
Aquaculture literacy
A recent MNSG survey distributed to aquaculture professionals and others in the aquaculture industry revealed that while consumers may have heard the term aquaculture, most have difficulty defining it or explaining it to others. This finding was further highlighted by a survey conducted by MNSG as part of the Minnesota State Fair's 2022 Aquaculture Market Study Driven to Discovery Research Facilitywhere consumer responses indicated a lack of understanding about the source of their seafood.
“Despite the lack of understanding, it was interesting to note that these consumers expressed a willingness to pay extra for local products, which we believe underscored the importance of seafood provenance in their choices,” said Schrank.
Kids cooking seafood with Spark-Y
MNSG's 2023 Kids Cooking Seafood with Spark-Y in collaboration Spark-Ya nonprofit organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota, produced a Cooking Seafood With Spark-Y cookbookand two demonstration videos How to fillet a fish with the Spark-Y and Cooking Seafood with Spark-Yone cooking demonstration lesson planand one short promotional video All aim to inspire children and families to try preparing seafood at home.
User-friendly information on Midwest seafood and aquaculture
MNSG reviewed existing online aquaculture resources and polled aquaculture extension professionals and others in the aquaculture industry to identify information that could help address the lack of aquaculture awareness among Midwest consumers.
“We are taking the information we collected and developing a seafood and aquaculture consumer education website to provide curated information to people interested in the aquaculture industry, fish and seafood consumers, and educators interested in using aquaculture concepts in the classroom to teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects,” said Schrank.
Another direct-to-consumer product is MNSG FreshFishFinder.org website that connects Great Lakes fisheries and aquaculture producers directly with consumers. The website includes a map, a list of participating producers and a fish type search function for consumers to locate the nearest fish and seafood producers.
Social license
Better understanding of aquaculture and striving for environmentally responsible, competitive and sustainable aquaculture methods is key to societal acceptance.
“The social acceptance or social license of aquaculture is a challenge,” said Don Schreiner, MNSG fisheries specialist, who will present the social license at the conference. “Social license is not something you can apply for. It is when a project or practice has continued approval or acceptance in a local community. Our work to directly involve the public in developing or revising government aquaculture plans and policies is one way we try to build social license.”
The Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC), led by MNSG, plays an important role in building social license by working with aquaculture producers to provide training, resources, networking opportunities and consumer education about aquaculture.
“Using aquaculture to provide positive solutions to local issues such as bait shortages, raising fish for farm-to-table and producing fresh seafood locally are all benefits of aquaculture that most people will support,” Schreiner said.
Raising Yellow Perch from egg to market size
Many Minnesota fish farmers are looking for a species that has a higher market value than Tilapia and Yellow Perch could fill that niche. MNSG has been actively involved with Minnesota fish farmers since 2017, and Yellow Perch farming is one of the issues they have asked Sea Grant to help them with.
MNSG's project on producer-scale methods for raising Yellow Perch from egg to market size (project video) seeks to help address the demand for a high-value species among fish farmers in the Great Lakes region and will be the subject of a presentation by MNSG Aquaculture Extension Associate Kieran Smith.
Upcoming seafood demonstrations and farm tours in the Great Lakes region
To combine education, outreach and hands-on examples, Minnesota Sea Grant plans experiences in 2024, such as filleting and cooking workshops that showcase aquaculture products at state fairs and seafood celebrations, and tours of state and regional aquaculture farms for legislators.
“We hope these upcoming activities will not only demystify aquaculture, but also highlight its potential to contribute to local economies,” said Schrank.
Minnesota Sea Grant is a system-wide program of the University of Minnesota and one of 34 federal-university Sea Grant partnerships across the country that bring applied water science to communities. MNSG has staff and offices on campuses in Duluth and St. Paul. Extension educators, researchers and communicators work with community members, local decision makers, policy leaders and staff from resource agencies, business and industry to improve the use and conservation of Minnesota's Great Lakes and inland water resources to create strong and sustainable economies. healthy environments and resilient and inclusive communities.
MORE INFORMATION:
CONTACTS:
- Amy Schrank, Extension Program Manager and Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension Educator, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Duluth, ashrank@umn.edu
- Don Schreiner, Fisheries Specialist, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Duluth, schr0941@d.umn.edu
- Kieran Smith, Aquaculture Extension Associate, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Duluth, smit2013@umn.edu
- Marie Thoms, communications manager, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Duluth, methoms@d.umn.edu.