Applying a Test Developed to Combat Obesity and Diabetes to Improve Growth in Fish, Mollusks, and Crustaceans.

Zebrafish have become an increasingly common model organism used in biomedical research to address human health issues.  Research performed in zebrafish may advance methods that can be applied to improve aquaculture.  In fact, a string of recent research aimed at better understanding obesity and diabetes is now being applied to improve selection for growth and feed conversion in commercial aquaculture species, including tilapia, oysters, and shrimp.   

While working at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Benjamin Renquist was focused on identifying …

Yellow Perch Aquaculture

Vanessa Weldon, Extension Associate, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Large female yellow perch (courtesy of Cecil Baird, Baird Fish Taxidermy & Fish Farm, Ligonier, Indiana).

Yellow perch, Perca flavenscens, is a sportfish found throughout the Great Lakes region and highly valued for its high-quality, firm, white, flaky flesh (Hinshaw 2006). A commercial fishery established for yellow perch yielded as high as 37 million pounds through the 1950s and ’60s but nearly collapsed shortly thereafter (Scott and Crossman 1973). …