Americans eat a lot of seafood — so much that the US imports $24 billion worth of seafood each year. The University of New Hampshire has developed a new, sustainable commercial aquaculture fishing system, and received federal funding this summer to take the project nation-wide.
Unlike traditional commercial fishing, which can cause habitat damage, harm endangered species, and lead to overfishing, aquaculture involves farming plants and animals in aquatic environments in a way that is protective of local ecosystems while producing commercial seafood.
This method created at UNH has been so successful that the team has received federal funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation to take the AquaFort method beyond New England and all over the country, adapting to local species in Puerto Rico, Alabama, California, and more.
