(Washington, DC)— Today Congresswoman Gwen Moore announced that she secured $533,500 in federal funding for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Great Lakes Aquaculture Center in the Agriculture Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5384), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives.  The funds will be used for the expansion of the Center, which is operated in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and for the research and development of aquaculture technologies and techniques that will increase the production of the area’s seafood industry.

“Lake Michigan is invaluable to our area, providing Milwaukee with recreation, access to other cities around the world through our port, and a growing opportunity to become a major resource for the seafood industry,” said Congresswoman Gwen Moore.  “This funding will help UWM scientists figure out how to reap even more from the Great Lakes by fueling the expansion of our local seafood industry and the resulting job creation.”

Approximately 29 percent of the U.S. population inhabits the areas surrounding the Great Lakes and consumes more than one billion pounds of seafood per year.  However, the commercial seafood industry in the Great Lakes area generates less than 4 percent of all U.S. production.  The purpose of UWM’s Great Lakes Aquaculture Center is to research and develop ways in which the Great Lakes can capture a larger portion of the seafood industry’s market share, and therefore provide the region with additional jobs.

Specifically, these funds will support the Center’s advancement of Great Lakes species aquaculture technology, as well as their efforts to bring this technology to fish farmers for their use in seafood production.  Additional research enabled by this funding will encompass a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines, including reproductive physiology, engineering, fish nutrition, fish health, developmental biology, and genetics.

The Agriculture Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5384) is expected to pass when the House votes on it later this month.  After passage, the Senate will consider its own version.  Later in the year, a House-Senate conference will reconcile the two versions, upon which time each chamber will vote on final passage. 

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For an interview with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, please contact Ashley Glacel at 202-225-4572.

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