Two Large Fish Farms Taking Shape in Wisconsin
UW Sea Grant Continues Support

Two large aquaculture projects in northwestern Wisconsin reflect the growing importance of fish farming in the state’s economy. They are also the largest aquaculture projects UW Sea Grant has been involved in during 30 years of support for aquaculture research, education, and outreach, according to Fred Binkowski, aquaculture specialist for UW Sea Grant Advisory Services.

The St. Croix Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians broke ground last May on one of those projects, a $23 million investment that will be one of the largest private aquaculture facilities in North America, according to Richard Hartmann, director of planning and project coordinator for the St. Croix Chippewa tribe.  The 160,000-square-foot building will produce 2.2 million pounds of yellow perch and 1.1 million pounds of Atlantic salmon each year, Hartmann said.

The St. Croix tribal aquaculture facility in Danbury, Wis., July 31, 2000.  Photo courtesy of Butler Design and Technology, Inc.

"Sea Grant has been a great resource for us since back in the late 1980s," Hartmann said. "Jeff Malison [director of the Aquaculture Program at UW-Madison] has provided a lot of advice, and Fred [Binkowski] is the guru on yellow perch aquaculture. Al Miller [UW Sea Grant Associate Director for Advisory Services] also provided a lot of aquaculture information, resources, and connections," he said.

 The facility is expected to begin production late next summer and will initially employ 25 to 30 people, Hartmann said.

Butler Design and Technology of Woodbury, Minn., the engineering and architectural firm leading the construction and technical design of the facility, has also turned to Sea Grant for advice.  "During the design phase of this facility, Fred Binkowski and Al Miller provided invaluable assistance and support for this project," said Walter Butler, the firm’s president.

The Danbury facility will use a state-of-the-art recirculation system to achieve minimal environmental impacts and is expected to be operational by June 2000, Butler said.

At Butler’s request, Binkowski visited the site last September and received an update on the project.  In October, representatives from Butler’s firm, the St. Croix tribe, and others involved in the project visited the Aquaculture Center at the UW-Milwaukee WATER Institute to study the program in intensive aquaculture and the commercial-scale recirculating system that Binkowski has developed with support from UW Sea Grant. 

Binkowski has played a broader role in the other project, to be built near Ashland and tentatively named the Ashland Aquaculture Demonstration Facility. He has served as advisor on education and outreach as well as scientific and technical issues since the project began in January 1994, when Mayor Lowell Miller invited him to Ashland to discuss the possibility of building an aquaculture demonstration center.

The project solidified in February 1999, when Gov. Tommy Thompson announced the state would support it with $4 million in the UW System budget.  Later that year, UW System President Katharine Lyall announced UW-Superior would take lead in developing the facility.

In January 2000, UW-Superior Vice Chancellor Charles Schelin formed a steering committee to determine the facility’s location, the source and treatment of water, and the specific combination of applied research, education, and outreach that will make up the facility’s program. The committee is formed of representatives from industry, state government, Native Americans, and academia, Binkowski said. It includes Harvey Hoven, UW Sea Grant Advisory Services business specialist. Binkowski chairs the subcommittee on program and facility. 

"We believe the aquaculture outreach, education, and applied science to be conducted in Ashland will make a significant contribution to the aquaculture industry in Wisconsin," Binkowski said.

- John Karl

Last updated 20 June 2001 by Karl
All contents copyright 2000 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute

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