A/AQ-6

Impact/Outcome:

Title: Fish Out of Water: Growing U.S. Production of Land-Based Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture

Recap: Maryland Sea Grant with a consortium of collaborators are developing a ‘roadmap’ to advance domestic, land-based Atlantic salmon production through recirculating aquaculture systems in the United States to help reduce pressure facing wild salmon stocks.

Relevance: About 90 percent of American seafood is imported, but only about half of it is farmed. Researchers estimate that by 2050 twice the current supply will be needed, and depleted wild stocks cannot fill the demand. Every year, Americans consume 500,000 tons of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), 95 percent of it imported, with a value of $3.4 billion. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) can sustainably and safely grow salmon on land. The systems clean and re-use water (up to 99 percent recycled); control the environment to optimize fish growth and health; repurpose waste as fertilizer, and feed fish with sustainably sourced foods. In doing so, RAS can enable domestic salmon production to support local economies and reduce dependence on imported and wild fish. The RAS domestic industry's carbon footprint would be half that of imports, and land-based salmon could not escape into the wild population—a problem in sea-based farming. As of 2020, foreign and domestic interests invested or committed more than $1 billion to advance domestic salmon RAS production. However, barriers to expansion remain challenging.

Response: Maryland Sea Grant (MDSG), along with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, are leading partners in a $1.2 million, multi-state NOAA grant to study how to optimally grow Atlantic salmon using RAS and build the domestic industry. Collectively known as RAS-N (Recirculating Aquaculture Salmon Network), this consortium includes scientists, economists, biologists, and engineers collaborating to advance RAS Atlantic salmon production. They are also educating the public and supporting workforce, career, and business development. Despite COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, MDSG staff attended or led virtual meetings with RAS-N collaborators addressing career and workforce development, education, communications, and research. The MDSG Extension specialist hired through the NOAA grant is facilitating the RAS-N work group efforts.

Result: MDSG’s Assistant Director for Communications and the Extension specialist developed content and layout for the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s RAS-N website, which launched in 2020. MDSG’s Assistant Director for Education worked with counterparts in Maine and Wisconsin to identify best practices in formal and non-formal education and workforce development. These results will be aggregated into a broader ‘roadmap’ paper. Through workshop feedback, the Extension specialist developed a survey sent to stakeholders in spring 2021 to help prioritize needs as well as identify top barriers to salmon RAS development. The Extension specialist also published an article in Aquaculture Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 1 (March 2021) about the RAS-N project, workshops, and launching the RAS-N website.