According to the Maryland Department of Agriculture:

“Aquaculture, or farming the water, produces a variety of finfish and shellfish: hybrid striped bass, tilapia, catfish, crawfish, trout, oysters, and soft crabs. Black sea bass, yellow perch, and eels also are under consideration for aquafarming. For laboratory research, aquaculture supplies ornamental aquatic plants and fish, game fish, bait, and some specimens. Aquaculturally produced fish are exempt from laws and regulations that pertain to wild harvested species, including endangered species provisions.
Maryland's first aquaculture legislation passed in 1988. Since then, most aquafarmed products have been grown in ponds. A new intensive aquaculture, however, now uses recirculating tanks, making farm-raised fish available year-round.

In 2001, the wholesale value of aquafarm-raised products in the State totaled $3,812,430. Ornamental species, such as goldfish and koi, are the backbone of Maryland aquaculture, accounting for 83% of sales. In 2001, aquafarms harvested 3,125,100 ornamental fish and 1,502,900 aquatic plants, worth approximately $3.16 million. Shellfish production and market value that year increased, with a reported harvest of 7 million market oysters and clams, seed oysters and clams, soft-shelled crabs and crayfish. Production and market value of hybrid bass, catfish, trout and tilapia, declined in 2001, and only 182,003 pounds were harvested compared with an estimated 2,768,399 pounds in 1998. The decline is attributed to a sharp drop in the market value of tilapia, which put many farmers out of business.

In 2003, the value of aquaculture production in Maryland was nearly $3.4 million. However, the market value of finfish continued to drop, as did the market value of ornamental fish. Ornamental species accounted for 88% of aquaculture production in Maryland for 2003, with ornamental fish worth $740,600, and aquatic plants worth $2,262,100. The finfish harvest amounted to 140,100 pounds valued at $144,000, while 15,670,000 shellfish were harvested and sold for $241,500. Hybrid striped bass, trout, tilapia, largemouth bass, bluegills, and minnows were raised aquaculturally, as were market oysters, seed oysters and clams, soft-shelled crabs, and crayfish.

Thirty-one commercial aquaculture producers operated in Maryland in 2003, along with eight licensed fee-fishing operations, and many individuals who grew fish and shellfish for their own use. Further, forty schools, nature centers, government agencies, and private organizations raised fish, shellfish, or aquatic plants for educational or restoration purposes. Species produced for those purposes included American and hickory shad, bluegill, brown and rainbow trout, channel catfish, golden shiners, redear and hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, striped bass, walleye, yellow perch, tiger muskie, tilapia, terrapins, Rosenbergii prawn, oysters, ornamental fish, and native grasses.

Aquaculture is assisted and promoted by the Seafood Marketing and Aquaculture Development Program in the Maryland State Department of Agriculture.

University of Maryland Extension Resources

• Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center (NRAC)
  http://www.nrac.umd.edu/

• Maryland Sea Grant
  http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/

Other State Extension Resources

• Aquaculture Situation and outlook Report 2007- Maryland
  www.nrac.umd.edu/files/Factsheets/NRAC-104-2007_Maryland.pdf

Agencies, Associations and Government Resources

• Aquaculture in Maryland
  http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/aqua.html

• Maryland Department of Agriculture:  There are 77 processing plants employing 1,733 people and over 6,000 watermen who work the Chesapeake Bay. In 2006, 51.2 million pounds of seafood was landed at a dockside value of over $53 million.
  http://www.marylandseafood.org/aquaculture/

• Alternative Farming Systems Information Center
  http://afsic.nal.usda.gov/

• Sea Grant in the Mid-Atlantic Region
  http://www.mid-atlantic.seagrant.org/links/index.html

• Aquaculture Network Information Center: AquaNIC provides access to electronic aquaculture information at the national and international levels, it provides self-paced aquaculture instruction to the aquaculture industry, and maintains the aquaculture subject area for the Agriculture Network Information Center
  http://www.aquanic.org/