Cultivating Change through Research
U.S. aquaculture is an environmentally responsible source of food and commercial products. Aquaculture is breeding, raising and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. Basically, it’s farming in water. It helps to create healthier habitats and is used to rebuild stocks of threatened or endangered species. Oregon aquaculture farms grow oysters, clams, salmon, trout, ornamental fish and algae, such as dulse.
Oregon Sea Grant funds innovative research in aquaculture that benefits aquaculture growers and regulators. Our outreach work shares these results with the general public and with aquaculture stakeholders, including public policy makers and entrepreneurs.
For more information about aquaculture in the U.S., check out this article from the NOAA Sea Grant.
Oregon Coastal Mariculture Collaborative
Learn about this collaborative effort by Oregon-based organizations to bring together a shared focus on restorative mariculture on the Oregon coast. The current members include:
The Guide to Oregon Aquaculture
This ArcGIS StoryMap features locations, pictures and information about Oregon’s aquaculture industry.
The Guide is intended to increase awareness and understanding of aquaculture in Oregon and serve as a resource for emerging growers in the state.
Current Projects
Oregon Aquaculture Explorer Platform: A recent grant from the National Sea Grant office is funding the expansion of the Oregon Aquaculture Explorer Platform, an online tool on the Oregon Explorer Natural Resources Digital Library that provides spatial and financial planning tools. The current platform contains resources for freshwater aquaculture species: Tilapia, Sturgeon, and Hybrid Striped Bass. The platform will be expanded to include marine species and additional freshwater systems.
Expanding Aquaculture in Oregon
From May to June 2021, Oregon Sea Grant distributed an online survey via email to individuals working in and around the aquaculture industry to help determine barriers to expansion and current needs.
Read the findings in this short infographic (pdf) on the barriers and needs for sustainable aquaculture expansion.
The needs assessment revealed that current regulations are a major barrier to expansion in Oregon. A report titled, Oregon Marine Aquaculture: Barriers, Opportunities and Policy Recommendations, summarizes the current regulatory framework for marine aquaculture in Oregon, provides recommendations for addressing regulatory and policy barriers, and summarizes the needs assessment in more detail.
Aquaculture Resources
- How oysters allow us to taste the many flavors of the sea
- Meet the delicious purple sea creature destroying Pacific kelp forests
- Aquaculture advocates want to bring more Oregon-grown fish from farm to table
- OSU receives grant to inform aquaculture investment in Oregon
- Farming the waters: Scientists revisit the promise of a diverse aquaculture industry
- Probiotic use in oyster larvae
- Nutritious red seaweed
- Improving the nutrition of hatchery fish
- Comparison of larval development in domesticated and naturalized stocks of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas exposed to high pCO2 conditions
- Limits to biomass productivity during fed-batch cultivation (sugar kelp)
- Gene expression correlated with delay in shell formation in larval Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) exposed to experimental ocean acidification provides insights into shell formation mechanisms
- Law on the Half Shell - This podcast is produced by the National Sea Grant Law Center and has eight episodes that examine impediments to shellfish aquaculture across the U.S. Oregon Sea Grant's Sam Chan is featured in discussing impacts to invasive species on farms.
- Oregon Aquaculture Association (OAA)
- Oregon Aquaculture Explorer Platform
- Oregon Aquaculture Explorer Platform Natural Resources Digital LIbrary
- Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Aquaculture Users Guide
- Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Commercial Shellfish Licensing
- Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Shellfish Plat Leasing
- Oregon Estuary Shellfish Mariculture Tool
- NOAA Fisheries Guide to Permitting Marine Aquaculture in the U.S.
- NOAA Fisheries State by State Summaries of Aquaculture Leasing/Permitting requirements for Shellfish, Finfish, and Seaweed
- NOAA Fisheries West Coast Aquaculture Permitting Resources
- NOAA Fisheries West Coast Aquaculture Siting Resources
- Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NAA)
- Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA)
- Pacific Shellfish Institute (PSI) - Oregon Information
Angee Doerr,
Sea Grant Extension Marine Fisheries Specialist
Located in Lincoln County, Angee focuses on commercial fisheries and marine coastal resources, providing community outreach and education on subjects ranging from marine resource management to nearshore energy and sustainable economic growth for coastal industries.
Sam Chan,
Sea Grant Extension Watersheds and Aquatic Invasive Species
Sam is located on OSU’s Corvallis campus. Sam is involved in various aspects of aquaculture, but currently, his work intersects aquaculture through his membership on the National Aquaculture Extension Steering Committee. There he is identifying emerging aquaculture Extension efforts, workforce development needs, and work on invasive species.
Tim Miller-Morgan,
Aquatic Veterinarian, Sea Grant Extension
Located at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Tim is Oregon Sea Grant’s aquatic animal health specialist. His involvement in aquaculture is primarily through ornamental fish.