The U.S. state of Minnesota recently released a draft of a new state aquaculture plan, drawing a wide array of public opinions that all agree the industry has potential in the state.
Just how much potential, though, has been up for debate.
The draft plan, commissioned by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and prepared by Portland, Maine, U.S.A.-based Steamboat Consulting, is the first of its kind since 1989 in the state, and outlines a strategy for effective investment in the future of Minnesota aquaculture.
The plan seeks to outline how the state can bring in USD 10.5 million (EUR 10.2 million) in annual revenue across all aquaculture sectors by 2034, which would nearly double the state’s current USD 5.5 million (EUR 4.8 million) annual aquaculture revenue, according to the 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) aquaculture census.
Of the three Minnesota aquaculture sectors – bait fish, sport fish, and food fish – the “largest long-term potential” is in the food fish sector, according to the draft.
“We believe there's a huge opportunity, especially with food fish, but that’s also where the most economic challenges lie,” said Edward Aneshansley, who is one of the authors of the Minnesota plan and the president of Massachusetts-based EdA-Aquatic Design Services, which focuses on the development and construction of aquaculture technology. “Our recommendations are really for conservative growth to develop and understand the industry. This is an industry that grows relatively slowly, and if you try to do things too quickly, you make mistakes and get ahead of what the infrastructure can support.”
In 2023, Minnesotan food-fish aquaculture operations generated total annual revenue of only USD 210,000 (EUR 202,500), according to the USDA. The majority of aquaculture in Minnesota focuses on the sport fish and bait fish sectors, which support the state’s USD 5.9 billion (EUR 5.7 billion) annual recreational fishery.
Though Aneshansley and others are shooting for moderate, measured growth, some stakeholders, including members of the Minnesota Aquaculture Association (MNAA), a trade group composed of stakeholders, scientists, and volunteers supporting aquaculture development, believe the projections vastly underestimate the potential of Minnesota’s food fish sector.
According to a presentation drafted by the MNAA, the state can produce USD 3 billion (EUR 2.9 billion) in annual aquaculture revenue across all sectors in the next decade.
“This plan is looking at the industry given the current situation with infrastructure,” said Clarence Bischoff, the board president of the MNAA and the CEO of Blue Water Farms, a Minnesota startup aiming to be the first to commercially raise walleye at a large scale in the U.S. “Our projections are based on enhanced infrastructure and what we think is going to be possible. That's what it boils down to.”
Bischoff said the first state aquaculture plan brought forth in this nature in 35 years should be a time to dream big and show legislators, investors, and consumers what is possible.
“It's the power of defining goals, and that's what we need to do here with this aquaculture plan,” he said.
In the U.S., total sales of aquaculture products in 2023 totaled USD 1.9 billion (EUR 1.8 billion), increasing 26 percent from 2018, according to the USDA. The industry is largely dominated by operations in Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Washington, with catfish mostly raised in outdoor ponds in the U.S. South and oysters grown in the ocean as the top farmed species.
However, innovations in aquaculture – namely recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) – are opening the door for inland states like Minnesota …
