Fish from 

 the farm 



By Nancy Davis 



Americans are on a feeding frenzy. 



When it comes to seafood, we're 

 cleaning our plates and begging for 

 more. 



But as our appetites for fish and 

 shellfish grow more voracious, our 

 harvest is remaining about the same. 



Does that mean we're destined to im 

 port even more seafood than we do 

 now? 



Maybe not. 



Last year, farm-raised fish and shell- 

 fish accounted for 14 percent of our 

 seafood supply. And some experts pre 

 diet that by the turn of the century, fish 

 farmers will supply 25 percent of the 

 world supply. 



Ron Hodson, Sea Grant's associate 

 director and head of the program's 

 aquaculture research, agrees that 

 everything points to aquaculture play- 

 ing a big part in meeting future de- 

 mand for seafood. 



He says, "The demand for seafood is 

 one of the major driving forces behind 

 the interest in aquaculture in the United 

 States." 



The aquaculture industry is already 

 supplying us with about 400 million 

 pounds of seafood a year, Hodson 

 says. That includes an estimated 25 

 million pounds of salmon, 280 million 

 pounds of catfish, 40 percent of our 

 oysters and nearly 100 percent of our 

 freshwater trout. 



Other species he believes show 

 promise are shrimp, redfish, clams and 

 the hybrid striped bass. 



In North Carolina, fish farmers have 

 already established a flourishing in- 

 dustry with mountain trout and catfish. 



In a survey of the industry here, 

 North Carolina State University zoolo- 

 gist Jim Rice found that over 230 grow- 

 ers were producing a wide variety of 

 aquaculture products. 



But even for all the talk of aquacul- 

 ture saving us from imports, Hodson 

 tempers his enthusiasm with concern 

 over some obstacles that must be 

 overcome. 



Aquaculture has met with some op- 

 position, he says. 



Frequently, fish farmers face legal 

 and regulatory constraints. Often the 

 aws were intended to regulate wild 

 catches, but end up inhibiting the sale 

 of farm-raised species. 

 And in one state, opposition by fish- 



ermen has led to a moratorium on 

 aquaculture. 

 The reason? 



Some fishermen fear that farm-raised 

 fish and shellfish will compete with their 

 catches. 



In Alaska, opposition from fishermen 

 reached such proportions that this 

 spring the state banned aquaculture for 

 two years. 



The controversy arose over salmon 

 net-pen culture. Salmon fishermen were 

 afraid that the commercial culture of 

 salmon would lead to an over-supply 

 and a resulting drop in the prices they 

 receive for their harvest of wild fish. 



Ironically, U.S. researchers developed 

 much of the technology for salmon 

 culture. 



But because of legal constraints that 

 have hampered the industry here, cul- 

 tured salmon from Norway, Canada, 

 the United Kingdom and Japan domi- 

 nate our market. 



The result is that the Alaskan fisher- 

 men are already competing with fish 

 farmers, Hodson says. But the competi- 

 tion is coming from foreign imports of 

 farm-raised salmon. 



Hodson believes that commercial 

 fishing and aquaculture can actually 

 work together to build markets and 

 stabilize seafood supplies and prices. 



Aquaculturists will market their prod- 

 ucts when they can get the best prices, 

 Hodson says. And that's when wild 

 catches are not available. 



By selling the farmed product at 

 other times of the year, it should main- 

 tain a higher price overall, Hodson 

 says. 



"Aquaculture is not a competing 

 force," Hodson says. "It can be a stabi- 

 lizing force. We want to stabilize prices 

 so we can predict what we can get for 

 our product." ■ 



