Jeffrey A. Malison, Director
123 Babcock Hall, 1605 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 263-1242  FAX: (608) 262-6872  email: jmalison@facstaff.wisc.edu

Mission & Background

Aquaculture plays a key role in the management of fishery resources in the Great Lakes region and has significant potential as a means of food production. Wisconsin is the nation's fifth largest producer of rainbow trout and has more than 780 licensed fish farmers who raise a variety of pan fish, bait, and cool- and warm-water game fish.

The UW-Madison Aquaculture Program serves Wisconsin's aquaculture industry. The program focuses attention on the importance and needs of Wisconsin's aquaculture industry through contributions in research, outreach, and policy.

The Aquaculture Program works extensively with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Program personnel were instrumental in the development, adoption, and implementation of the State Aquaculture Plan and are active in the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association, the Wisconsin Aquaculture Industry Advisory Council and the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center.

Programs

Basic and Applied Research

• Biotechnology and genetics for improved production and disease resistance.
• Characterizing physiological stress responses of fish and developing aquaculture methods that minimize stress and improve survival.
• Evaluating the effects of sex and reproductive status on fish growth.
• Aquaculture methods to increase production efficiency.

Instruction

Undergraduate and graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) training prepares students for academic and industry positions in aquaculture.

International

The Aquaculture Program trains foreign students and hosts foreign visitors (both short- and long-term) to exchange aquaculture technologies.

Research Emphases

• Characterization and control of physiological responses of fish to environmental stressors encountered during aquaculture operations, and development of genetic strains of fish having minimal stress responses.
• Development and testing of least-stress aquaculture methods and stocks that will maximize the post-stocking survival of hatchery-raised fish in the Great Lakes.
• Improving growth and controlling reproduction of cool- and cold-water fish species grown for consumption through studies of hybrid crosses, ploidy and gender manipulations, and hormonal treatments.
• Technologies to minimize consumptive water use in aquaculture operations, including water conservation, recycling, and effluent treatment.
• Cost-benefit analyses of producing different species in Great Lakes aquaculture operations, and of development of innovative aquaculture production strategies.
• Disease control and hatchery sanitation, including the development of disease-resistant fish strains among hatchery and wild stocks, and the identification, detection, and control of diseases encountered in Great Lakes aquaculture operations.
• Investigation of the merits of privatization of stocking hatcheries.

Faculty & Staff

Terence P. Barry, Associate Researcher
Endocrinology, physiology. Stress physiology of salmonids, reproductive physiology emphasizing steroidal control of gonadal development and oocyte maturation.

James A. Held, Research Specialist
Ploidy manipulation, histology, aquaculture production. Induction and evaluation of polyploidy in fish, development of aquaculture methodologies for cool-water fish.

Thomas E. Kuczynski, Research Program Manager III
Aquaculture production and systems. Design and evaluation of various aquaculture methodologies for salmonids, perch, and walleye.

Jeffrey A. Malison, Program Director and Senior Scientist
Endocrinology, physiology, aquaculture production. Endocrinology and physiology of growth, stress and reproduction of cold- and cool- water fish. Development of aquaculture methodologies for various fish including salmonids, perch, and walleye.

Lynne S. Procarione, Research Specialist
Ploidy manipulation, stress physiology. Induction and evaluation of polyploidy in fish, stress physiology of salmonids.