Diving Into Diversity
Aquaculture conference draws crowd to El Campo
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

What's It Do? Bryan Foust of Foust Marketing in Houston peers into a polygeyser water filtration system Thursday, during the Texas Aquaculture Association annual conference and trade show at the El Campo Civic Center. The device, shown by International Filter Solutions, uses beads to filter water in everything from garden ponds to public aquariums and fish farms, according to IFS representative Janet Sammann. L-N Photo by Brenda Sommer

The Texas Aquaculture Association returned to El Campo for its 38th Annual Trade Show and Conference this week, drawing producers from across the state and exhibitors from far and wide.

The Texas aquaculture industry produced approximately 30 million pounds of products in 2006, worth an estimated $45 million, with a total economic impact of more than $135 million to the state's economy.

The industry - more common in the deep South - has grown significantly in Texas in the years since Alabama exhibitor Julian Washburn began attending the TAA conferences. Washburn, who began raising catfish in the 1960s, invented aerator machines for himself and friends which are now sold commercially.

"This is the eighth or ninth year I've come to the Texas state event," he said. "My first year, they announced there were about to be 300 acres of aquaculture ponds in all of Texas, and all I could think was, 'I have a 430-acre pond on my own farm!'"

The aquaculture conference, which began Wednesday and wrapped up Friday at the El Campo Civic Center, had attendees from Texas shrimp, bass, catfish, redfish and other types of farms, and exhibitors from Arkansas, Alabama and numerous other states.

TAA kicked off its annual gathering with a golf tournament at the El Campo Country Club and a goose hunt with Paradise Hunting Club

"TAA would like to thank the El Campo community for your warm welcome and support of our organization upon our return to El Campo," said TAA board President Paul Dorsett.

Washburn agreed the conference is a pleasure for producers and exhibitors alike.

"People here in Texas have always been good to me," he said. "I'm always proud to be in Texas."

On Thursday evening, the organization held its aquaculture banquet, tasting locallyraised fish, mingling with one another and enjoying live music.

During the days, producers attended various technical sessions and educational presentations, all organized by conference Chairman Peter Woods of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service office in Bay City.

The largest aquaculture production crop in Texas is channel catfish, with production estimated at 24 million pounds worth $19.2 million in 2007 from around 3,000 acres of ponds.

The second largest aquatic crop is the Pacific White Shrimp, with growers producing 5 million pounds in 2006.

Some coastal shrimp farms converted to hybrid striped bass, and there are now more than 1,200 acres of hybrid striped bass production in the state, with an estimated 2 million pounds of fish annually.

There are two redfish facilities on the Texas coast with 346 surface acres, producing an average of 2 million pounds annually, worth $4.2 million, and several tilapia farms in the state produce at least 600,000 pounds of fish annually.

The Texas aquaculture industry also has a large aquatic plant/water garden industry, with very large ornamental fish sales. It is estimated that water gardens generate $7 million in sales annually in Texas. Bait fish, as well as stocker fish for recreational ponds are also big business in Texas.

The conference is the first of three statewide agricultural conferences slated for the civic center this spring. Texas rice producers will gather here Wednesday, Jan. 23 to attend the 4th Annual Western Rice Belt Production Conference, while on Feb. 5, the Texas Soybean Association will hold its 41st Annual Business Session here as well.