October 25, 2022 — Four projects that advance research into aquaculture, including sustainable aquaculture, in Maine will receive $2.1 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant, the agency announced in a press release. The projects are part of a larger $14 million NOAA Sea Grant investment to strengthen aquaculture across the United States.
Investigators from the University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, UMaine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research and Maine Sea Grant will lead projects to develop feed for finfish, improve Atlantic sea scallop hatchery techniques, diversify lumpfish broodstock and advance the work of the Maine Aquaculture Hub.
The finfish feed project at UMaine Aquaculture Research Institute will focus on food for farm-raised finfish larvae, which require microscopic feeds that are challenging to produce as zooplankton, which the larvae eat in the wild, is not economically feasible in finfish farms. So researchers will work with industry partners to produce and refine microparticulate larval feeds and evaluate the effects of diets on the growth and survival of California yellowtail and yellowtail amberjack.
“We are trying to get away from living organisms as feeds and move toward formulated diets, as we do in other fields of agriculture, Matt Hawkyard, of UMaine Aquaculture Research Institute, said. “This project will allow us to develop feeding technologies that are practical and adaptable to industry use.”