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FRANKFORT
, Ky. — The Kentucky Aquaculture Association is fishing
for more producers needed to meet the outstanding consumer
demand for Kentucky catfish and freshwater prawns.
The
association convenes its annual meeting in Elizabethtown
on April 17, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EDT) at the Elizabethtown
Tourism and Convention Bureau, 1030 N. Mulberry St .
The meeting is open to anyone and is focused on helping
current producers and recruiting new producers. The
registration fee is $25.
“We're
so close to a major breakthrough in this area of agriculture
and need more farm ponds and producers,” Kentucky Agriculture
Commissioner Richie Farmer said.
Workshops
on raising catfish and prawns will be offered at the
annual meeting; experts in marketing and insurance for
specialty crops will also be there.
“We
are selling catfish to Kroger as fast as we can produce
it, and there are so many more opportunities if we can
get more farm ponds,” said Dan Bonk, who is an Aquaculture
Association board member and sales and marketing director
for the Graves County-based Purchase Area Aquaculture
Cooperative.
One
new producer is going to raise tilapia, a popular gourmet
fish, using huge vats of 100-degree water in greenhouses.
Tilapia has surpassed trout in U.S. retail sales and
currently is imported from South America by restaurants
and retailers.
“Aquaculture
is one of the fastest growing sectors of agriculture
today,” said Angela Caporelli, aquaculture marketing
specialist for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
“ Louisville and Lexington consume almost 5 million
pounds of shrimp and 1.5 million pounds of catfish each
year. Kentucky can raise part of that market share while
supporting our state's farmers.”
For
more information, Bonk can be reached at (270) 382-2680
or by e-mail at drbonk@wk.net
. Caporelli can be reached at (502) 564-4983 ext.
259 or by e-mail at angela.caporelli@kyagr.com
. Shelia McCord, secretary/treasurer of the Kentucky
Aquaculture Association, can be reached at (859) 744-4860
or by e-mail at smccord977@aol.com
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