20/08/12: conch sustainability; US drought and catfish; Maryland plant-based fish feed

Hello,
Today we have a bit of a US-themed blog.  There's no particular reason, it just seems that the US is a awash with aquaculture stories at the moment.  We've managed to find quite a selection and we hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

• Conch fishery lucrative but imperiled says the Boston Globe.  The little-known industry has experienced something of a boom in recent years but state official are now calling for sustainability measures to be implemented to ensure the future of this lucrative seafood.  Read more...

• You would have to have been living under a rock for the past few months not to have heard that the US Midwest is experiencing a devestating drought.  It is not just the agriculture industry which is suffering.  The failure of crops has lead to a spike in feed prices which is putting the pressure on catfish farmers in Mississippi.  Read a report in the Delta Farm Press here.

• The Baltimore Sun visits the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (part of the University System of Maryland) to find out about research into a plant-based proteins for fish feed.  Read more...

Did you know you can search for aquaculture news on our news portal service, Global Aquaculture News?  It trawls the web for the most up-to-date stories and stores them by category.  Go on, have look...

Map of USA with Midwest highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)