Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of Maryland, College Park received a $650,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), awarded February 1, 2026, with a completion date of January 31, 2029. The project develops non-invasive diagnostic tools to detect stress in rainbow trout raised in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) by identifying molecular and microbial biomarkers that indicate fish health status without harming the animals.

The research expands the "stressome"—a catalog of stress-related gene expression changes—through sequencing of key tissues under realistic RAS conditions and analyzing RNA from intestinal cells found in feces to enable stress monitoring without invasive procedures. In parallel, the project investigates how the gut microbiome shifts during stress, identifying microbial profiles as early warning indicators of poor environmental conditions. By integrating molecular markers, microbial profiles, and blood metabolite data, the project will deliver practical monitoring tools that enable aquaculture farmers to adjust management practices, optimize fish health, and identify trout families with enhanced stress resilience. These deliverables address critical gaps in aquaculture management where traditional stress measurements based on blood cortisol levels are invasive, inconsistent, and impractical for large-scale operations.