Aquaculture America 2026

February 16 - 19, 2026

Las Vegas, Nevada

Add To Calendar 18/02/2026 13:30:0018/02/2026 13:50:00America/Los_AngelesAquaculture America 2026ENHANCING U.S. AQUACULTURE COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH VERTICAL VALUE-ADD PROCESSING, A CRITICAL ECONOMIC VIABILITY VERTICAL INTEGRATION CONSIDERATION FOR U.S. AQUACULTURE PRODUCERSLoireThe World Aquaculture Societyjohnc@was.orgfalseDD/MM/YYYYanrl65yqlzh3g1q0dme13067

ENHANCING U.S. AQUACULTURE COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH VERTICAL VALUE-ADD PROCESSING, A CRITICAL ECONOMIC VIABILITY VERTICAL INTEGRATION CONSIDERATION FOR U.S. AQUACULTURE PRODUCERS

Michael H. Schwarz*, Jonathan van Senten, Yiming Feng, Taozhu Sun, and Mengyi Dong.

 Virginia Tech – VSAREC

 15 Rudd Lane

 Hampton Virginia 23669

 mschwarz@vt.edu

 



Expanding globalization of markets continues to put pressure on US aquaculture producers. One opportunity to enhance the bottom line for US producers of aquaculture products is to consider vertical integration of value-add processing. This allows for opportunities such as market differentiation, more appealing options to US consumers for “easy/ready-to-eat/cook” products, and to benefit from value-add process margins. Importantly, value-added processing also presents opportunities to ensure and highlight product reliability, safety, and consistent high quality, factors that are essential for gaining and maintaining consumer trust/branding. This presentation will discuss such opportunities for various sectors of US aquaculture, including examples of currently available value-add products from US aquacultured products.