![[photo, Department of Agriculture, Wayne A. Cawley, Jr. Building, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/10dag/images/1198-1-820b.jpg)
Department of Agriculture, Wayne A. Cawley, Jr. Building, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, Maryland, June 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Maryland's first aquaculture legislation passed in 1988. Since then, most aquafarmed products have been grown in ponds. A new intensive aquaculture, however, now uses recirculating tanks, making farm-raised fish available year-round.
In 2001, the wholesale value of aquafarm-raised products in the State totaled $3,812,430. Ornamental species, such as goldfish and koi, are the backbone of Maryland aquaculture, accounting for 83% of sales. In 2001, aquafarms harvested 3,125,100 ornamental fish and 1,502,900 aquatic plants, worth approximately $3.16 million. Shellfish production and market value that year increased, with a reported harvest of 7 million market oysters and clams, seed oysters and clams, soft-shelled crabs and crayfish. Production and market value of hybrid bass, catfish, trout and tilapia, declined in 2001, and only 182,003 pounds were harvested compared with an estimated 2,768,399 pounds in 1998. The decline is attributed to a sharp drop in the market value of tilapia, which put many farmers out of business.
In 2003, the value of aquaculture production in Maryland was nearly $3.4 million. However, the market value of finfish continued to drop, as did the market value of ornamental fish. Ornamental species accounted for 88% of aquaculture production in Maryland for 2003, with ornamental fish worth $740,600, and aquatic plants worth $2,262,100. The finfish harvest amounted to 140,100 pounds valued at $144,000, while 15,670,000 shellfish were harvested and sold for $241,500. Hybrid striped bass, trout, tilapia, largemouth bass, bluegills, and minnows were raised aquaculturally, as were market oysters, seed oysters and clams, soft-shelled crabs, and crayfish.
Thirty-one commercial aquaculture producers operated in Maryland in 2003, along with eight licensed fee-fishing operations, and many individuals who grew fish and shellfish for their own use. Further, forty schools, nature centers, government agencies, and private organizations raised fish, shellfish, or aquatic plants for educational or restoration purposes. Species produced for those purposes included American and hickory shad, bluegill, brown and rainbow trout, channel catfish, golden shiners, redear and hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, striped bass, walleye, yellow perch, tiger muskie, tilapia, terrapins, Rosenbergii prawn, oysters, ornamental fish, and native grasses.
Aquaculture is assisted and promoted by the Seafood Marketing and Aquaculture Development Program in the Department of Agriculture.
© Copyright Maryland State Archives