![[photo, Department of Agriculture, Wayne A. Cawley, Jr. Building, 50 Harry S Truman Parkway, Annapolis, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/10dag/images/1198-1-819b.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.
Aquaculture is assisted and promoted by the Seafood Marketing and Aquaculture Development Program in the Department of Agriculture.
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