Two projects at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point were among 19
awarded by the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute this week. Sea Grant awarded $3.9
million to fund Great Lakes research, education and outreach projects,
including:
- $213,000 for optimizing walleye production in
aquaculture and aquaponic systems
- $50,000 for developing a course on managing natural
resources in changing weather conditions
Professor of Fisheries Biology
Christopher Hartleb will continue research on walleye and hybrid walleye in
traditional aquaculture systems and in aquaponic production systems. He and
colleagues at UW-Stevens Point’s Northern Aquaculture
Demonstration Facility in Bayfield and Aquaponics Innovation Center in Montello
will compare costs
of production, yield and revenue.
The
aquaculture and aquaponic industries need more fish options along with
scientific, technical and economic information to successfully raise fish in
integrated recycle production systems, he said. Aquaculture producers raise a
variety of fish types, but water shortages and environmental regulations are
shifting production practices to recirculating systems. In aquaponics, tilapia
is the only one fish type that has been extensively researched.
Walleye
has great potential as an aquaculture species because it has high market value
and limited supply from traditional commercial sources, said Hartleb, who is also
director of the Bayfield facility.
“Our
project will conduct key commercial production evaluations using traditional
and integrated aquaculture systems raising walleye and hybrid walleye from fry
to market size,” he said.
They
will study three stocking densities and nutrient recycling in traditional and
integrated aquaculture systems known as aquaponics. This will provide valuable economic
and biological information to help commercial fish producers evaluate this new
fish for their systems.
The second
project is being conducted by six faculty members at UW-Stevens Point campus
along with a UW-Extension educator. Nancy Turyk, Katherine Clancy, Shiba Kar,
Holly Petrillo, William Fisher and Eric Anderson of the College of Natural
Resources, along with Cathy Techtmann of UW Extension, will develop an online course and field experience using the Lake
Superior basin.
The course
will integrate the effects of changing weather conditions as a critical element
in natural resources decision-making processes. Students will learn about
current and predicted conditions and how to assess and interpret research so
they can develop strategies to adapt to changing conditions.
The Lake Superior basin provides a great study environment, Turyk said,
because it is changing so quickly. By anticipating the economic implications on
the paper industry, hunting, fishing, recreation and tribal cultures, resource
managers will be able to make decisions leading to greater resiliency in
communities and natural resource systems, she said.
The
elective course, expected to be offered first in the spring of 2017, will
include a field study of a week to 10 days in the Lake Superior basin.
The
two-year Sea Grant funding supports 19 projects exploring freshwater seas.
Researchers will look at the health of waterways, methods to prevent Great
Lakes beach contamination and possible ways to lessen the destruction of
floods, among others. UW campuses in La Crosse, Madison and Milwaukee and
Northland College and St. Norbert College were also funded.