Charting a course ahead for the conservation and sustainable farming of freshwater and marine species is a chief focus of the first State of the World's Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report will contain smaller subsections from 89 contributing countries, including the United States.
This summer, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) national program leader Caird Rexroad submitted a final draft of the U.S. subsection of the FAO report. This culminated the year-long efforts of an interagency team of experts to identify and help catalogue genetic resources for some of the most recognized and used aquatic species. These experts came from ARS, USDA's National Institute for Food and Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, Food and Drug Administration, Department of State and National Aquaculture Association.
Rexroad was appointed to lead the team in spring 2016 to represent the U.S. government's efforts on the State of the World report. The team's U.S. Country Report subsection profiles trends, industry practices and issues impacting U.S. aquaculture, which ranks 14th worldwide and produces 608 million pounds of fisheries products worth $1.3 billion annually.
The State of the World report seeks to:
To read the rest of the story, please go to: USDA Agricultural Research Service
