RED PORGY AQUACULTURE: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

Red porgy Pagrus pagrus is commercially culture in Europe, throughout the Mediterranean, and increasingly in Asia where it is highly regarded as a valuable marine reef fish and seafood delicacy.  The red porgy are congeners of the red sea bream Pagrus major, one of the most valuable and widely cultured marine finfish.  With widely established markets and consumer preference for red colored reef fish (e.g. red snapper, vermilion snapper and various groupers) red porgy is an excellent candidate for marine aquaculture in the Greater Atlantic and Southeast region including the Gulf of Mexico.  While red porgy is not commercially cultured in the U.S., there is significant interest for land based and offshore aquaculture operations. We will review U.S. research and experience to date of red porgy aquaculture in terms of broodstock management, larval rearing, grow-out, nutrition and marketing potential.   We will review the performance of red porgy culture in net pens globally and we will discuss opportunities for commercial development both land-based and offshore.