 Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic animals or plants. And aquaculture is very important to Alabama because farmers raise a number of species, including catfish, crawfish, oysters, shrimp, sportfish, baitfish, and even some other species for a huge variety of different markets. And Alabama is one of the most important aquaculture states in the United States. It rankings sixth in aquaculture sales. Catfish is the primary farm raised fish in the state of Alabama. And Alabama actually currently produces 33% of the catfish raised via commercial aquaculture in the United States. In recent years, Alabama has raised close to 100 million pounds of catfish on over 16,000 acres of water in production ponds, mostly in West Alabama. Auburn University is a leader in carrying out research to make the aquaculture industry more sustainable. And these projects are very broad in nature and include research on improving things such as the efficiency of production systems to make them more cost-effective, improving commercial aquaculture feeds and feed management, improving water quality and culture conditions, and studying aquatic animal diseases, therapeutants, and different treatments. Alabama farmers are committed to doing their part to produce a tasty, nutritious, safe, and sustainable product for Alabama and US consumers. And really it's that commitment to sustainable farming practices and techniques that are used by Alabama's producers that will guarantee the success of this farming industry for future generations. I chose to make aquaculture my life's work because when I arrived in graduate school and was exposed to aquaculture for the very first time, I realized that fish and other aquatic animals, such as shrimp and crawfish, could be farmed and used as a sustainable protein source to help feed the world. Since I grew up in a developing country overseas and was exposed to extreme poverty and individuals that didn't have enough to eat, aquaculture seemed like a logical solution to me to help alleviate poverty and provide food for the hungry. So at that point, I was hooked on aquaculture and have been ever since.