Aquaculture

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Helping to Grow Sustainable Aquaculture in New Hampshire and Beyond

Aquaculture has great potential to sustainably produce seafood for a hungry world while helping our fishing and coastal communities build resilience to environmental and economic change. To help realize this potential, N.H. Sea Grant has been developing, educating and training individuals in responsible aquaculture methods.

Projects

The Working Waterfront - American Aquaculture in the 21st Century

	Oyster Aquaculture in Great Bay Oyster farming in N.H. has grown rapidly over the last five years. Hatchery raised spat is grown on the bottom and takes about three years to reach a harvestable size of three inches. The oysters are sold fresh, locally to restaurants and wholesalers. Not only are the oysters tasty, but they conduct ecosystem services by filtering nutrients from the bay.
	Mussel Aquaculture Offshore Open ocean, submerged longline culture of mussels was demonstrated offshore of N.H. in early 2000. Several fishermen have adopted this technology to provide fresh mussels to local markets. Mussels are grown on a head line 30' below surface. In this protected environment, they escape wave energies and predators from the bottom, resulting in a 50% higher meat yield compared to wild mussels.
	The Steelhead Trout Story Rainbow trout are hatched and raised at a local hatchery in Ossipee. Here, they swim in long raceways with flowing freshwater. At eight months of age or 10" in length, they can be transferred to growout cages in the ocean. Trout have the remarkable ability to acclimate from freshwater to seawater and can tolerate a wide variety of temperatures. Once in seawater, they are referred to as steelhead trout. In warm coastal waters, steelheads can grow to five pounds in seven months.
	Producing Kelp Seed Line for Seaweed Farmers Kelp is the super veggie of the sea! Common in Asia, seaweed farming is now taking flight in New England. Submerged longline culture is the industry standard. To help the new industry grow, kelp seed line is now available through N.H. Sea Grant for new farmers to get started.
	New Biofloc Culture Methods for Shrimp Aquaculture Empty barns and greenhouses in N.H. could soon be growing warm water shrimp. N.H. Sea Grant is establishing a pilot scale shrimp biofloc demonstration project at the UNH Jackson Estuarine Laboratory. This will be used train interested farmers on how to raise shrimp in semi static recirculating aquaculture systems. Shrimp can be grown to market size in four months' time, providing a new local product for N.H.