The Aquaculture Systems Research Unit (ASRU) was established in July 1994 and is co-located with the Aquaculture/Fisheries Center of Excellence, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. This is a cooperative partnership to promote and facilitate through research the expansion of aquaculture in Arkansas and the southern United States. The ASRU funds a specific cooperative agreement with the Aquaculture/ Fisheries Center of Excellence, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, entitled, "Improving the Efficiency of Foodfish and Baitfish Aquaculture." Research conducted under this specific cooperative agreement addresses a number of areas important to aquaculture, such as economics, nutrition, diseases, and reproduction, and results are reported in annual reports.

 

 

Aquaculture Systems Research Unit scientists also collaborate with aquacultural researchers at other ARS laboratories and universities. Scientists from the ARS Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center (SNARC) collaborate on ASRU studies that evaluate the effect of threadfin shad on zooplankton populations in channel catfish production ponds. Researchers from the ARS Catish Genetics Research Unit and the Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center collaborate on studies to evaluate the use of liquid oxygen to oxygenate pond water and on the effects of handling and transport on product quality.