The North Central Regional Aquaculture Conference will be held in Toledo, Ohio for 2014. North Central Aquaculture is one of the five regional aquaculture centers established by Congress.

According to North Central Aquaculture’s website, their mission is to “support aquaculture research, development, demonstration and extension education to enhance viable and profitable U.S. aquaculture, which will benefit consumers, producers, service industries and the American economy.”

North Central Aquaculture is operated from Iowa State University in conjunction with Michigan State University, and it serves twelve states in the North Central region. Those states include Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. 

North Central Regional Aquaculture and other aquaculture associations from Indiana, Michigan and Ohio will also be participating in the conference.

“Every year since 1988, the twelve states get together for an annual [North Central Regional Aquaculture] meeting, but this is the first year for a conference like this one,” said Joseph Morris, professor of natural resource ecology and management.  

The conference will be held Feb. 22-23. It is a two-day event full of speakers and presentations. The fee for the conference is $75 and, as of right now, there are 200 people signed up to attend.

The conference will focus on workshops that benefit the aquaculture industry. Health, feed, best management practices, biology and ecology are a few of the topics that will be discussed.

The two-day conference will give the industry the chance to learn about future and current opportunities in the industry, as well. Opportunities of learning include technology, laws and issues, as well as advice from agencies.

“The goal of the conference is to make the best use of funds,” Morris said. “There is a limited amount of funds, and it is beneficial to help the industry.”

The topics that are chosen to be presented are those most relevant to the twelve states. Specific fish that are found among those states are one of the main topics; they include yellow perch and blue gills. Other sport fish, pond stocking and some food operations will be other topics of discussion.

“Both experts and industry will be at the two-day event,” Morris said.

Researchers can learn from the industry and the industry can learn from the researchers; therefore, it is a mutual benefit.   

North Central Aquaculture is made up of a variety of people. The center has an industry advisory council, including the Iowa DNR, participation from veterinary students and Iowa State University Extension. All of the twelve states have a center that is made up of a variety of people.

North Central Aquaculture also works alongside the U.S. Department of Agriculture from Washington D.C. The centers are established by Congress and are administered by the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

“The whole goal of the aquaculture center is to help the industry,” Morris said. “Essentially, they are the ones in production.”