An Alabama, U.S.A.-based aquaculture project led by Dauphin Island Sea Lab has harvested its first fish, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR).
Though funded by Congress years ago, the project has effectively been dead in the water awaiting permitting and other agreements, Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture Project Manager Ashley McDonald said in a department announcement. The project finally lifted off last year after receiving a protected species agreement from NOAA and permits from ADCNR, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Coast Guard, and a platform and fish pen were installed about 2 miles off the coast of Fort Morgan.
The project is intended to “study the feasibility of raising finfish to marketable size along with other species like oysters and seaweed,” according to ADCNR. The project began with raising red drum alongside hanging baskets of oysters and macro algae.
“This project is intended for more localized, small-form aquaculture,” McDonald said in a release. “It would be more individually owned and operated. It’s not one of these big, massive aquaculture projects, the idea being that we wanted to incorporate local native species with intrinsic market value for Gulf species locally. We wanted to provide an avenue for smaller commercial harvesters that might be looking into branching out into aquaculture or subsidizing any of their commercial revenue and doing it in a way that it doesn’t feel like it’s competing with commercial harvest.”
McDonald said the harvested fish were undersized due to a late start, and the red drum will be supplied to local markets at no cost. The lab sill collect sales data to help inform their approach on taking the fish to market next year.
“Only one of the fish bays is occupied right now with about 3,000 redfish,” McDonald said. “The fish are small this year. We had a lot of delays getting the platform out. We’re harvesting them at about 1 pound, about 14 inches. We really don’t know what our market is yet. What we’re doing this year is off plan because they are small. The original idea was to get them to one kilo, 2.2 pounds, but that didn’t happen.”
