STEVENS POINT — The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point was selected for one of 22 federal Sea Grant-funded projects totaling $11 million. It is the only university in the Great Lakes region to be part of the 2018 Aquaculture Research Awards, the university announced today.
This award will help UW-Stevens Point’s Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility in Bayfield support land-based Atlantic salmon production in the Great Lakes, according to a UWSP news release. The award comes through Wisconsin Sea Grant.
The Wisconsin project will receive about $245,000 in federal funds during its first year. The total budget for the two-year project, including both federal and non-federal matching dollars, is about $773,000.
“This funding provides an unmatchable opportunity for UW-Stevens Point and its students to meet the goals of the Sea Grant priority of supporting the development of emerging systems and technologies that will advance aquaculture in the U.S,” said Christopher Hartleb, professor of fisheries biology and director of the NADF and UW-Stevens Point’s Aquaponics Innovation Center in Montello, in the news release.
Researchers will focus on two key issues: fish health and fish flavor.
Superior Fresh is the largest Atlantic salmon aquaponics facility in the world.
Photo courtesy UWSP. UW-Stevens Point student Brianna Dunbar, a biology major and intern for Superior Fresh, holds the first Atlantic salmon the company harvested. Photo courtesy UWSP.
