Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** recirculating aquaculture systems…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) have reached the point where they can be used to sustainably produce seafood in interior states, providing healthy, fresh, locally-grown fish to consumers who otherwise cannot acquire IT. However, there remains room for improvement in RAS technology and species development. Shrimp farming in the US has been gaining some popularity and olive flounder are a species that performs well in other countries, but is not grown in the US. This project has three objectives: 1.) increase production of shrimp and flounder in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) to improve profitability, 2.) increase the environmental sustainability of RAS and lower IT's carbon footprint, and 3.) develop an understanding of consumers' perceptions and sensory reactions to seafood produced in various RAS environments. Under objective 1, we will push the limits of shrimp stocking density in RAS, expand the capacity of the only US flounder hatchery in the US, and evaluate the tolerance of flounder to various salinities. Under objective 2, we will evaluate the ability of vascular plants and macroalgae to assimilate nutrients and CO2 in RAS, and we will examine the production of greenhouse gases from anaerobic digesters in various environmental conditions. For objective 3, we will survey the perceptions of consumers from interior states with regard to their preferences for seafood and we will evaluate how the flounder, plants, and algae produced in this project are perceived by consumers from a sensory standpoint. This project will dramatically increase the US capacity for sustainable seafood research and production.