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Welcome to the Ohio State University Center for Aquaculture Research and Development

    The mission of the Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development (OCARD) is to increase the productivity, innovation and profitability of Ohio and US aquaculture operations, while respecting sustainability and good stewardship, by implement of sustainability and good stewardship, by implement of innovative research, outreach, extension and education programs in aquaculture.

Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) program

The Ohio Center for Aquaculture Research and Development at The Ohio State University South Centers has received an award of $550,000 from the USDAs National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop the Aquaculture Boot Camp (ABC) program for training new and beginning aquaculture farmers
in production and business in Ohio and adjacent states. This is a joint effort of the Aquaculture, Business Development and Marketing teams at OSU South Centers.
The ultimate goal of this program is to utilize a multi-faceted approach, including classroom and handson training paired with industry mentoring, to improve the success rate of new and beginning aquaculture farmers. This will be accomplished through the establishment and delivery of an ABC in which participants gain the skills and knowledge required to successfully own and operate a fish farm. more detail

YY- super male bluegill have been produced by OSU SC scientists 

Creating all-male populations, monosex male culture, holds considerable potential as a method to increase the efficiency and profitability of bluegill aquaculture, as males grow twice as fast as females. Furthermore, monosex populations can eliminate the problem of prolific reproduction, precocious maturity and their consequences in aquaculture ponds and natural water bodies.

To develop so called YY-males in bluegill, which can produce all male offspring in normal matings, Ohio State University South Centers (OSUSC) initiated a YY-male selection project in 2004. For the first two years, they developed an all-female population and cultured them to maturation. These phenotypically female fish were physically female, having ovaries, but genetically males, with XY chromosomes.  In the fall of 2008, OSUSC scientists successfully induced those phenotypic females to spawn by crossing them with regular males (XY).  This produced about 30,000 surviving progeny. Among this population, 75% are males including 25% YY-males and 50% XY-males, which has been verified by progeny sexing. All male populations are being produced by by crossing the YY-males with regular XX-females.