Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

In-Person Meeting (2/17/2026) Summary of Meeting Notes:

• This was the fifth meeting of W4004 since it was launched in October 2021. The meeting was held in the Burgundy Conference Room of the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, NV on February 17^th from 10-12. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Aquaculture America 2026 Meeting.
• The meeting started with a status update on the renewal process for W5004, including a summary of the external reviews of the W5004 proposal and a discussion of how to incorporate the proposed improvements into the W5004 project if it is approved.
• Additionally, the team discussed methods to enhance collaboration among W4004 members and continue work towards the objectives of the W4004 project. One potential collaboration discussed involved using the Aquaculture Performance Indicators (developed by W4004 members James Anderson, Frank Asche, and Taryn Garlock) to evaluate the current sustainability of several US aquaculture industries along environmental, economic and community dimensions. The W4004 team would break up into subgroups, with each subgroup examining a different US aquaculture industry and then incorporating the results of each analysis into a special session at the next Aquaculture America Conference and special edition of Aquaculture Economics & Management or another aquaculture journal. This would be in addition to a special edition of Aquaculture Economics & Management in 2025 that included multiple W4004 members introducing the APIs and providing case studies of their use.
• The remainder of the meeting involved members providing short updates (3-5 minutes) on recently completed, current, and planned research projects.

Online Meeting (4/3/2026) Summary of Meeting Notes:

• This online meeting was held in addition to the in-person meeting at Aquaculture America 2026 to allow for increased participation and collaboration among group members.
• The meeting started with a status update on the renewal process for W5004, including a summary of the external reviews of the W5004 proposal and a discussion of how to incorporate the proposed improvements into the W5004 project if it is approved.
• The team discussed additional projects that would align with W4004 (and potentially W5004) objectives and foster further teamwide collaboration. In addition to the Aquaculture Performance Indicators project discussed at the in-person meeting (see notes), the team discussed a group effort to conduct a broad analysis of trends and the current status of seafood trade in the United States. The team plans to start the project under W4004, but research and extension products are unlikely to be completed before 2027. The project aligns with the W5004 proposal’s focus area, ‘Improving U.S. Seafood Marketing and Understanding of the Global Seafood Trade’.
• The meeting also included presentations by each group member on their current and planned work. These presentations are designed to keep us abreast of projects and foster collaboration.

Objective: Marketing, Niches, and New Products

1. Activity: Restaurant and Supermarket Demand of Important Aquaculture Species (collaborators: Taryn Garlock, Frank Asche, Andrew Ropicki – 3 collaborators at 2 institutions):

Surveys of restaurants and grocery stores in the Southeastern U.S. were conducted to explore purchaser preferences, sales trends, and product availability of three emerging aquaculture species in the region: red drum, oysters, and crawfish. This work is part of a USDA NIFA Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC) grant-funded project. Data collection was completed in 2025, data were analyzed, and both a peer-reviewed publication and an extension publication are currently in preparation. Results will be made available to industry members upon publication and will help producers of these species more effectively identify marketing channels for their products.

Plans for the Coming Year

In 2026, committee members will disseminate findings from the Restaurant and Supermarket Demand project through peer-reviewed and extension publications, making survey results accessible to producers of red drum, oysters, and crawfish in the Southeastern U.S.

Outputs:

• Garlock, T., LaFontaine, Q., Asche, F. (2025). Public interest in aquatic foods in the United States: A study of internet search activity. Aquaculture, 609, 742862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2025.742862

Under Revision:

• LaFontaine, Q., Garlock, T., Asche, F., Roy, L. Using Google search data to analyze U.S. public interest in catfish. Under revision at Aquaculture Reports.

Extension Presentations:

• Garlock, T. The U.S. Oyster Market. Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory webinar, September 26, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg_epKqL3vI.
• Garlock, T. U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Industry Update. Alabama Catfish Conference 2025, January 9, 2025, Marion Junction, AL.

2. Activity: Market Feasibility of Ikejime-Handled Locally Caught Seafood in Rhode Island (collaborator: Hirotsugu Uchida – 1 collaborator at University of Rhode Island):

This project investigates the market feasibility of enhanced-quality, locally caught seafood using the traditional Japanese fish dispatch method known as ikejime, which measurably improves the taste, smell, and shelf life of seafood. The project has three main components. The first component focused on training local rod-and-reel fishers in the ikejime technique; a total of 20 fishers were trained through hands-on sessions covering the science behind the method and its practice with live fish. The second component targets supply chain actors—seafood dealers and restaurant chefs in Rhode Island—to inform and educate them about the quality advantages of ikejime-handled fish. The third component, currently underway, engages consumers through blind taste tests combined with willingness-to-pay surveys to quantify the consumer premium associated with ikejime seafood. This project has particular relevance for part-time and smaller-scale commercial fisheries in Rhode Island that operate with rod-and-reel and fish traps and are often overshadowed economically by larger trawl vessels. Successful market development for ikejime seafood could make these smaller industry segments more economically viable while giving consumers and restaurants access to high-quality local seafood.

Plans for the Coming Year

The ikejime seafood quality project will complete consumer willingness-to-pay data collection, move toward analysis and publication, and continue efforts to engage additional supply chain actors in Rhode Island.

3. Activity: Consumer Demand for Domestic vs. Imported Seafood in Local Markets (collaborators: Hirotsugu Uchida and Kirsten Leong – 2 institutions):

This project investigates ways to make domestic fisheries and aquaculture more resilient to market shocks, increase demand for domestic products, and reduce reliance on imports. The project examines how domestic and imported seafood coexist in local markets, focusing on strategies that enable local producers to compete with lower-priced imports. In 2025, the project director visited the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) campus and conducted preliminary market visits and stakeholder research on the island of Oʻahu, primarily in and around Honolulu. Through discussions with Hawaiʻi Sea Grant scholars, it was determined that domestic shrimp farming for food consumption in Hawaiʻi has been declining in favor of more lucrative broodstock production; accordingly, the project focus was broadened from farmed shrimp to general consumer preferences for domestic versus imported seafood. A PhD student at UHM, for whom the project director serves as an outside dissertation committee member, is currently carrying out consumer and supply chain surveys. Results will provide actionable strategies to help local fishing industries position themselves and coexist competitively with cheaper imports.

Plans for the Coming Year

The project will begin formal data collection and analysis of consumer preferences for domestic versus imported seafood.

Objective: Production for Dynamic Markets

4. Activity: Labor Demand, Supply, and Associated Constraints Under Alternative Production Methods in the Bivalve Shellfish Culture Industry (collaborators: Andrew Scheld, Andrew Ropicki – 2 collaborators at 2 institutions): USDA NIFA grant-funded research project to examine labor usage in US Gulf and Atlantic shellfish aquaculture operations. The project employed biweekly surveys of industry collaborators to measure labor use across different business tasks (production, maintenance, administration, etc.) for various production forms (clams vs. oysters, on-bottom vs. off-bottom, etc.). The project will develop benchmarks and best practices for various forms of US shellfish aquaculture production, which will be shared with industry members. The project team finished biweekly survey data collection in 2025 and is currenty analyzing the data for the development of extension documents for industry members. The benchmarks and best practices information will be shared with industry members in 2026. An additional survey is currently under development to examine the most pressing labor issues facing shellfish growers and grower attitudes toward potential programs to address them.

An addition to this project involved an analysis of the value of the USDA RMA Shellfish Pilot Crop Insurance Program to Florida growers. The analysis analyzed the potential returns to purchasing HIP-WI insurance through the program over the last 5 years by county.

Plans for the Coming Year

Several manuscripts will be submitted and a website allowing growers to develop work logs and track labor usage will be shared with growers online. Additionally, the insurance analysis will be expanded to include Alabama growers and examine the potential returns associated with the APH Price Component insurance.  

Extension Products:

• Ropicki, A., Sturmer, L., Ulrich, B. 2025. 2026 USDA Shellfish Pilot Crop Insurance Program – Florida Prices and Coverage by County. https://shellfish.ifas.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026-USDA-Shellfish-Pilot-Insurance-Costs-Information.pdf/.

5. Activity: Development of four Gulf of America IFQ Pricing Reports (W4004 collaborator: Andrew Ropicki – 1 collaborator at University of Florida)

The Gulf of America IFQ Pricing Reports provide timely information on fishing quota market prices (sales prices, lease prices, and dockside prices for fish) to fishery participants including fishermen and fish house operators. The reports are generated through a survey of IFQ participants asking about market prices and their opinions on the current state of the fishery and markets, this data is aggregated to generate a ‘market’ report. These reports provide IFQ participants with timely market price information, enabling them to make informed business decisions. Four reports were completed during the year. The reports are available on the Florida Sea Grant website: https://www.flseagrant.org/fisheries/ifq-pricing-reports/.

Extension Products:

• Ropicki, A. Gulf of America IFQ Pricing Report – February 2026. https://www.flseagrant.org/publication/gulf-of-america-ifq-pricing-report-february-2026/.
• Ropicki, A. Gulf of America IFQ Pricing Report – October 2025. https://www.flseagrant.org/publication/gulf-of-america-ifq-pricing-report-october-2025/.
• Ropicki, A. Gulf of America IFQ Pricing Report – July 2025. https://www.flseagrant.org/publication/gulf-of-america-ifq-pricing-report-july-2025/.
• Ropicki, A. Gulf of America IFQ Pricing Report – May 2025. https://www.flseagrant.org/publication/gulf-of-america-ifq-pricing-report-may-2025/.

Objective: Analyzing the ‘Seascape’ of the Aquaculture Industry in the U.S.

6. Activity: Aquaculture Performance Indicators (W4004 collaborators: Taryn Garlock, Frank Asche, Jim Anderson, Ganesh Kumar, Kevin Fitzsimmons, Hirotsugu Uchida – 6 collaborators at 5 institutions):

The Aquaculture Performance Indicators (APIs) and the Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs) are assessment tools developed by W4004 researchers to measure how well fishery and aquaculture systems perform across economic, community, and environmental dimensions. To date, data have been collected for more than 70 aquaculture systems and more than 150 fishery systems worldwide, and more than 75 researchers and practitioners are currently using these tools in research and development projects.

In 2025, a special issue of research articles utilizing the API dataset was published in Aquaculture Economics and Management, featuring 8 papers from various regions of the world, including analyses of the U.S., China, and European aquaculture sectors. In addition, two papers utilizing the global API dataset received revise-and-resubmit decisions from peer-reviewed journals. The first of these aims to examine the relationship between aquaculture performance outcomes and management and other enabling factors that determine sustainability performance. The second uses data from both the APIs and FPIs to examine women’s participation in fisheries and aquaculture by region and species. Furthermore, one paper using FPI data to examine global fishery performance was published in Fish and Fisheries in 2025. One paper examining data accuracy in aquaculture and its economic implications for producers was also published, along with analyses of retail market dynamics for oyster in the U.S.

Plans for the Coming Year

API-related work will continue with submission and revision of manuscripts currently under review, including the global sustainability analysis and the study of women’s participation in seafood systems.

Outputs:

• Asche, F., Garlock, T., Anderson, J., Pincinato, R.B., Anderson, C., Camp, E., Jingjie, C., Cojocaru, A., Eggert, H., Lorenzen, K., Love, D., Tveterås, R. (2025). A review of global fishery performance. Fish and Fisheries, 26(3), 444–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12890
• Anderson, J.L., Eggert, H., Garlock, T.M. (2025). Special issue Introduction—Aquaculture performance indicators: A low-cost tool for comparison and evaluation of data-scarce aquaculture sectors around the world. Aquaculture Economics & Management, 29(2), 131–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/13657305.2025.2458972
• Garlock, T., Anderson, J., Anderson, T., Kumar, G. (2025). Aquaculture in the United States: An analysis of seven aquaculture sectors from the Aquaculture Performance Indicators perspective. Aquaculture Economics & Management, 29(2), 304–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/13657305.2025.2455411
• Lijun, L., Anderson, J., Che, B., Chu, J., Garlock, T., Jingtao, X. (2025). Too Big to Be Sustainable? An analysis of China’s aquaculture sector in the three pillars of sustainability. Aquaculture Economics & Management, 29(2), 231–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/13657305.2025.2455403
• Nielsen, R., Guillen, J., Llorente Garcia, I., Asche, F., Garlock, T., Kreiss, C.M., et al. (2025). An analysis of the European aquaculture industry using the Aquaculture Performance Indicators. Aquaculture Economics & Management, 29(2), 253–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/13657305.2025.2453747
• Petrolia, D., Asche, F., Parker, M., Garlock, T. (2026). How much oyster is there out there? Inaccurate data may be the largest economic risk facing aquaculture producers. Aquaculture, 619, 743902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2026.743902
• Anderson, J.L., Asche, F., Eggert, H., Garlock, T.M. (2025). Introducing the aquaculture performance indicators: A tool to assess the triple bottomline in aquaculture systems. Aquaculture Economics & Management, 29(2), 136–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/13657305.2024.2446143
• Hossain, E., Dey, M.M., Asche, F., Sudhakaran, P.O., Garlock, T. (2025). Retail market sales dynamics of oyster in the USA: Evidence from retail-level scanner data. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, 56(6), e70071. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.70071
• Guillen, J., Asche, F., Borriello, A., Carvalho, N., Druon, J.N., Garlock, T., Llorente, I., Macias, D. (2025). What is happening to the European Union aquaculture production? Investigating its stagnation, species diversification, and sustainability. Aquaculture, 596, 741793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2024.741793

Under Revision:

• Garlock, T., Asche, F., Anderson, J.L., Eggert, H., Guillen, J., Nielsen, R., Tveterås, R. Achieving the three pillars of sustainability in aquaculture. Under revision at Nature Communications Earth & Environment.
• Garlock, T., Chu, J., Crandall, C., Dutka-Gianelli, J., Pincinato, R., Liu, L. Participation and influence of women in global seafood systems. Under revision at Fish and Fisheries.

Extension Presentations:

• Garlock, T. Making the Case for Lean Management. Invited presentation at the USSEC Aquaculture Production Executive Program, May 15, 2025.
• Garlock, T. Global Shrimp Outlook. Alabama Shrimp Producer’s Meeting, February 5, 2025, Greensboro, AL.

1. Title: Restaurant and Supermarket Demand for Important Aquaculture Species

Source: Southern Regional Aquaculture Center

Recipients: Taryn Garlock (Auburn University), Frank Asche/Andrew Ropicki/TJ Anderson (University of Florida)

Award: $247,729

Dates: 5/15/2023 - 5/15/2026

2. Title: Labor Demand, Supply, and Associated Constraints Under Alternative Production Methods in the Bivalve Shellfish Culture Industry

Source: USDA NIFA

Recipients: Andrew Scheld (Virginia Institute of Marine Science), Andrew Ropicki (University of Florida)

Award: $606,668

Dates: 9/1/2023 - 8/31/2026