CAFCS News |
|
WVU studies aquaculture opportunitiesMorgantown, WV--Researchers from across West Virginia are exploring the economic potential of aquaculture and its possible impact as a state industry. "West Virginia has the natural and human resources to support food and recreational fish based industries that can enhance the state’s economy," said Kenneth Semmens, West Virginia University Extension aquaculture specialist and adjunct professor in the WVU College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences (CAFCS). "Currently, there is a relatively small commercial aquaculture food-fish industry and a relatively large set of sport and fee fishing activities," Semmens explained. "There is a potential to expand both of these activities." Ongoing research promotes the development of West Virginia’s aquaculture potential by identifying constraints affecting the industry, conducting the research needed to overcome these constraints, and assisting with the transfer of the technologies and knowledge developed by the research team, Semmens said. "The research was initiated in 1999 and focuses on marketing issues, costs of production and processing, improved production technologies, waste analysis, improvements in the quality of the products, fish health, production facilities, and client perceptions, needs, and opportunities," Semmens said. "Addressing this broad array of problems facing West Virginia’s aquaculture is a large task that requires the cooperation, integration, and efforts of several scientific disciplines." Those disciplines are represented by a group of scholars representing WVU’s CAFCS, Extension, and Colleges of Business and Economics and Engineering and Mineral Resources and the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Morgantown; Bluefield State College in Bluefield, WV; West Virginia State in Institute, WV; Cornell University in Ithaca, NY; and the Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute in Shepherdstown, WV. Semmens explained that water availability and quality are both essential for aquaculture, and studies are being undertaken to determine the content of trout farm waste. Another study will focus on certifying the health of fish produced in West Virginia so that live trout can be marketed in surrounding states. A yield verification program in being designed to provide direct assistance to producers for improving their productivity as well as increasing knowledge of more efficient production techniques. "Preliminary reports indicate there are over 30 mining sites in West Virginia with a sufficient volume of water for commercial scale trout production," Semmens said. "If these can be used efficiently it may be possible to increase aquaculture production and realize immediate value for some of the costs of treating mine water." Future efforts are aimed at investigating the feasibility of utilizing waters from active mines for producing trout and other fish species. For additional information on the project, please contact Semmens at (304)293-6131 Ext. 4211, or via E-mail at ksemmens@wvu.edu. WVU Extension has established a Web page featuring additional information on aquaculture in West Virginia at http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/aquacult.htm. |
|
We invite you to send feedback to the Webmaster. |