Friday night fish fries have been a Wisconsin tradition for over 150 years. Much of the fish consumed at these iconic events now originates outside of the state due to economic, environmental and social challenges. This presentation features two vignettes highlighting how NOAA Sea Grant, through Aquaculture Supplemental funding (2022–2024), supported rural economies and advanced Wisconsin’s food-fish aquaculture by linking culture, consumers and research.
The first vignette focuses on an outreach project to improve connections among Wisconsin food-fish producers and consumers. The project was approached through Wisconsin Sea Grant’s award-winning Eat Wisconsin Fish (EWF) initiative and made successful by three interns and a variety of Wisconsin Sea Grant staff including communicators and outreach specialists. The EWF initiative includes a website, a video series, The Fish Dish podcast, social media and outreach at public events. Aquaculture Supplemental funding supported work to improve the website and expand communication and outreach activities, which also included cooking demonstrations and fish farm tours. The project reached over 20,000 people annually and strengthened public trust, awareness and appetite for Wisconsin-grown fish. Importantly, the projects provided training for interns and cultivated networks among food-fish farmers, researchers, and outreach staff, laying the foundation for new collaborations and training opportunities.
The second vignette focuses on applied research to identify optimal winter thermal requirements for a fish fry favorite: walleye (Sander vitreus). Like other percids, walleye require cold water temperatures for successful gonadal development, but the specific winter temperature and duration thresholds for optimal spawning are unknown. The team compared the performance of walleye and the biochemical composition of their eggs under different winter chill period temperatures. They found that winter temperatures of 5°C resulted in the best spawning performance with fecundity and gamete quality reducing with higher winter temperature. These research findings are helping walleye farmers to optimize the reproductive success of their broodstock and plan for the cost of chilling water, which can be considerable. They also provide possible insight into why wild walleye populations display reduced recruitment following warm short winters.
While challenges remain, including limited workforce capacity, a dearth of fish processors, poor business planning and high start-up costs, Sea Grant’s dual investment in consumer engagement and applied research is improving the odds that Wisconsinites will one day enjoy fish fries featuring locally produced fish.