Fish Farmers Focus on Water Quality Issues

More than 300 fish farmers, aquaculture researchers, technical experts, and regulators from at least six states gathered in Green Bay March 12-13 for this year’s Wisconsin Aquaculture Conference.

The conference focused on water, "the most important tool for the aquaculture industry," according to Fred Binkowski, UW Sea Grant Advisory Services Aquaculture Specialist.

Binkowski says the aquaculture industry is actively addressing water quality issues. "The industry is not just waiting for brush fires to pop up," he said. "They’re taking a proactive stance to avoid any problems. Fish farmers are not only users of water, they’re environmental stewards as well."

The conference opened with a global look at water issues and progressed to more technical talks and workshops on the technology, economics, and water chemistry of fish farming. A closing presentation examined the relationships among the water issues, the aquaculture industry, and general environmental topics.

The conference was sponsored by the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association, the Wisconsin Aquaculture Industry Advisory Council, UW Sea Grant Institute, University of Wisconsin System, and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

More than 330 Wisconsin fish farmers raise fish for food products, stocking, bait, and for-fee fishing. With an estimated value of $10.5 million in 1997, the state’s aquaculture industry is growing at an annual rate of about 12 percent.

- John Karl

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Last updated 28 March 2000 by Karl
All contents copyright 1999 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute

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