Oops!

Looks like you don't have the latest flash player installed. Click here to go to Macromedia download page.

Services
Innovative Wetland Treatment System in PA

Recognizing the value of clean water resources, the Freshwater Institute works with government, industry, nonprofits and individuals to shape sustainable, environmentally responsible solutions to water resource management.

 

Utilizing a variety of approaches, our work can be categorized into three broad areas:

 

    • Applied Science: finding answers through the spirit of research, experimentation and discovery.
    • Conservation Engineering: applying engineering and conservation principles to implement practical solutions.
    • Training and Education: sharing knowledge with present generations so that they may leave a positive legacy for those in the future.
Our Research

The Freshwater Institute is a leader in research on closed-containment aquaculture systems. Watch this short video for an introduction to our work.

Click on the video to enlarge

 

 

Click here to download a related brochure about our salmon aquaculture research.

 

Spotlight

USDA Project

 

forest stream

A research partnership between the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and The Freshwater Institute has refined a new model for fish farming, one that can produce healthy fish, leave a healthy environment, and be done almost anyplace, even far from large water resources. Learn about the project or click here to read the article published by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Photo: Peggy Greb

 

 

Rockymarsh Run Watershed Restoration

 

forest stream

The Freshwater Institute is initiating restoration and protection efforts in Rockymarsh Run with the goal of restoring a native brook trout fishery in the stream and generating other local benefits for the area, while also contributing to regional Chesapeake Bay water quality restoration goals. Learn More.

 

Quiz: Go Fish!


fish farming tanks

Take this short quiz to learn about our research and efforts to improve aquaculture systems. Take the quiz >>

Upcoming Events
Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, Water Reuse for Intensive Fish Culture

 

Chris Good, Brian Vinci, and Steven Summerfelt will be teaching “Water Reuse for Intensive Aquaculture” at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana from May 29th to June 1st, 2012. This four-day course, presented by The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute, covered the fundamentals of design and management of water recirculating systems. Click here for registration information.

What's New

Superior Paper Award

 

We are pleased to announce that John Davidson, Christopher Good, Carla Welsh, Brian Brazil and Steven Summerfelt have received the Aquaculture Engineering Society’s Superior Paper award for their authorship of Heavy metal and waste metabolite accumulation and their potential effect on rainbow trout performance in a replicated water reuse system operated at low or high system flushing rates, which was published in Aquaculture Engineering, Special Issue Vol 41 in 2009.

 

The Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute Announces New Planning Tools and County WIP Goals Websites

 

We are pleased to announce the new website, Eastern Panhandle Development Toolbox (www.region9wv.com/bay) that serves as a portal for Low Impact Development resources in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Residents, local government, and developers can find information and tools for providing local benefits to our water resources including technical reports and guidance documents, tools for calculating pollutant runoff and more.

 

We also created the website, Progress and Goals for Counties in the Potomac Basin (www.region9wv.com/bay/Goals) with graphs showing historical load reduction progress and Phase I Watershed Implementation Plan goals for each county in West Virginia's Potomac Basin.

Publications

Abnormal swimming behavior and increased deformities in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss cultured in low exchange water recirculating aaquaculture systems
Published in Aquaculture Engineering. 45(2011), 109-117

 

Effect of dietary vitamin E supplementation and refrigerated storage on quality of rainbow trout fillets.
Published in Journal of Food Science. 76(4), 233-241

 

The effects of carbon dioxide on performance and histopathology of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in water recirculation aquaculture systems.
Published in Aquacultural Engineering. 42 (2010) 51–56.

 

Distribution of Off-Flavor Compounds and Isolation of Geosmin-Producing Bacteria in a Series of Water Recirculating Systems for Rainbow Trout Culture.
Published in North American Journal of Aquaculture. 72:1–9.

 

Evaluation of ozonation on levels of the off-flavor compounds geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol in water and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss from recirculating aquaculture systems.
Published in Aquacultural Engineering. 43 (2010)

46–50.

Click here for a full list of publications.
Latest News
Future of Fish

On January 11, 2012, Dr. Steven Summerfelt, attended the “Future of Fish” strategic gathering in Indiana that aimed to advance the knowledge of best practices in the Aquaculture Industry across the U.S. Together with representatives from Bell Aquaculture, the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Virginia Cobia Farms, they discussed ongoing collective efforts to provide healthy, great-tasting and ecologically responsible fish options for consumers.

 

Designed by engineers at the Freshwater Institute to reduce its environmental impact, Bell Aquaculture’s new closed-containment system construction added an additional 450 metric ton of production. The new water recirculating systems minimize water use, maximize waste capture, and practically eliminate disease interaction between farmed and wild fish. The Freshwater Institute’s Director of Aquaculture Systems Research, Steven Summerfelt noted: “We’re committed to producing safe seafood and healthy fish while capturing waste products and recycling water. The production systems we designed for Bell Aquaculture maintain ideal water quality for yellow perch while operating on less than one-half of one percent of the water required to produce the same weight of fish in more traditional production systems.”

 

Bell plans to expand with an additional 500 metric ton production system in 2012 with the help of the Freshwater Institute.

 

Click here for the press release.

Freshwater Institute Wins Farmers Are Cool December Contest

The Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute wins a portion of monthly sales from the Farmers are Cool website. www.facebook.com/farmersarecool. December 1, 2011.

YSI Donation To Freshwater Institute Helps Protect And Restore Healthy Populations Of Salmon

The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute is benefiting from a donation of technology and expertise from YSI, a developer and manufacturer of water quality monitoring and testing equipment. Freshwater is using the donation to grow healthily populations of salmon and trout on land. Click here for more information. www.conservationfund.org. November 15, 2011.

Freshwater Institute trout enjoyed at Martinsburg VA Medical Center

Culinary teams from the medical center’s Nutrition and Food Service (NFS) and Veteran Canteen Service collaborated to prepare a meal for approximately 500 Veteran inpatients, outpatients, and staff."A Taste of Appalachia." www.martinsburg.va.gov. October 24, 2011.

Freshwater Institute Donates Trout to Maryland DNR

Approximately 1,000 additional trout have been donated by the Freshwater Institute in West Virginia."State's fishermen will find more places to catch trout than last year." baltimoresun.com. October 8, 2011.

New Partnership with Atlantic Salmon Federation

The Atlantic Salmon Federation and the Conservation Fund have recently announced a new partnership to grow Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in a commercial-scale freshwater closed-containment recirculating system at the Freshwater Institute in Shepherdstown, WV. Details of the partnership are summarized in the June 23, 2011, FISHupdate article "New Closed Containment Research Important to Saving Wild Salmon.".

Dr. Brian Vinci and Dr. Steven Summerfelt have been invited to give keynote presentations in Norway.

Dr. Brian Vinci will be presenting on growout of Atlantic salmon in recirculating systems at a special workshop titled "RAS for the Production of Salmon" being held at the International Research Institute of Stavanger (http://www.iris.no/) on August 15, 2011. Dr. Summerfelt will be presenting at the European Aquaculture Society meeting at the AquaNor forum on August 17, 2011.

Our work implementing water reuse for salmon hatcheries in Washington is in the news

 

"Going round and round to help fish. Water-saving technology raises healthier stealhead." NWPPA Bulletin. March 2011.

 

"Salmon Need Exercise Too." Hatchery International. March/April 2011.

 

"Eastbank Fish Hatchery project produces 'fitter' fish and saves water" Wenatchee World. January 15, 2011.
"Washington fish hatchery research shows circular tanks result in buff salmon and steelhead." The Oregonian. December 1, 2010.
Tree Planting Restoration Project with Trout Unlimited

With funding provided through the Rockymarsh Run Watershed Restoration project, the Freshwater Institute's partner, Trout Unlimited, brought 25 students out to plant trees along Rockymarsh Run. "Students Participate in Tree Planting Restoration Project." The Journal. November 4, 2010.

Partnership with USDA highlighted in several publications:

"Recirculating water systems used for fish production." Fish Information & Services. October 22, 2010.

"USDA and Freshwater Institute working on improving closed system aquaculture." Seafood.com. October 20, 2010.

NiSource and the Fish and Wildlife Service Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan

As part of a team with The Conservation Fund's Strategic Conservation program, Michael Schwartz is helping to identify mitigation opportunities for endangered aquatic species. The project was featured in the Wall Street Journal article, "A Path to Simpler Permits." October 18, 2010.

August 29, 2010, Martinsburg News Journal

On August 29, 2010, the Martinsburg News Journal published the article, "Freshwater Institute helps bridge gap during times of uncertainty with fish" Read more>>

8th International Recirculating Aquaculture Conference Attendees Tour Freshwater

Attendees from the 8th International Recirculating Aquaculture Conference which was held in Roanoke, VA tour Freshwater Institute Read more>>

Acoustical Bat Surveys

Michael Schwartz and staff from the Freshwater Institute were participants in the acoustical bat survey aimed at estimating bat populations in eastern West Virginia.Read more>>

8th International Recirculating Aquaculture Conference

Dr. Steven Summerfelt, Dr. Christopher Good, Dr. Brian Vinci, Mark Sharrer, John Davidson and Tom Waldrop presented research at the 8th International Recirculating Aquaculture Conference held in Roanoke, VA last August. Read more>>

Freshwater Featured in AOL article

Freshwater is featured in a recent AOL News article about transforming old coal mines in West Virginia into functioning fish farms. Coal Mines as Fish Farms? That's the Hook in West Virginia.

Freshwater Institute featured in the Christian Science Monitor.

Andrew Jenner writes about our research and facilities in the article, "Recirculating aquaculture systems: The future of fish farming?" featured in the Christian Science Monitor.  Click here to read >>