If you’re a fan of salmon, you’re not alone.

The fish that was once considered a luxury food is now one of the most popular seafoods in the western world. Locally, salmon is the most popular fish species in the United States.

Scientists and staff at the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center (NCWMAC) in Franklin, ME, have been improving the amount and quality of America’s Atlantic salmon for nearly 20 years.

“Since 2003, the center has worked with stakeholders to produce a North American strain of Atlantic salmon that exhibits traits producers and consumers want,” said Brian Peterson, NCWMAC research leader.

NCWMAC’s selective breeding program focuses on traits such as carcass weight, sea lice resistance, fatty acid profile, and fillet color. The center also helps North American producers compete with international producers by conducting disease and nutrition research.

According to Peterson, the NCWMAC uses traditional non-GMO breeding methods to raise about 150 families of fish each year that have been selected for improved growth and sea lice resistance. Sea lice are small crustations that attach themselves to the skin of fish and are not harmful to humans. Each year, the U.S. aquaculture industry receives a limited amount of salmon eggs from these families. These eggs are then raised by commercial farmers, who then spawn the fish that are commercially reared in net pens.

Americans consume nearly 450 tons of salmon each year, and ARS is helping keep the nets full. That’s good eatin’! – By Scott Elliott, ARS Office of Communications

SunButter: A Tasty Spread For Sandwiches and Crackers

Did you know that ARS scientists developed a tasty, nutrient-rich peanut butter alternative made from sunflower seeds?  Sunflower seeds are a good source of protein, fiber, vitamin E, zinc, and iron.

Although they are a popular peanut alternative, no company had ever successfully marketed a spreadable sunflower seed butter until several years ago when Red River Commodities unveiled a new spread created with the help of the ARS Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, La.

Learn more about this tasty treat.

Biodiversity Experiment

Biodiversity describes the different kinds of organisms found in an area. Scientists use biodiversity to measure the health of a particular ecosystem or habitat. For example, a pond with lily pads, aquatic grasses, insects, frogs, fish, and birds has a high biodiversity and would be considered a healthy ecosystem. The many kinds of plants found in this healthy pond provide food and shelter for different aquatic insects and small animals, which provide food for predators such as large fish and birds. Lowering the biodiversity of this pond by removing some of the plants or animals could harm all the other living things in this pond. In agriculture, high plant biodiversity (such as many kinds of flowering plants) around gardens or within orchards provide food and shelter for predators and parasitoids, which can control insect pests without the use of insecticides.

About the Experiment

It's time to get your hands dirty like a scientist! Try this experiment to measure biodiversity around your yard or school and see how biodiversity at the plant level affects biodiversity at the insect level.

	Details Ages: 5 - 12
	Time: 30 minutes
	Difficulty: Easy

 What You'll Need

• Pencil and paper
• Access to areas with two different soil types (garden, backyard, lawn, grass, dirt)
• String

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Let's Do This!

Warning: Be aware that some insects may sting. Younger explorers should conduct this experiment with an adult.

1. Use the string to create a 3-foot by 3-foot boundary around an outdoor area, such as a garden, lawn, grass, tree, etc.
2. Spend 8-10 minutes observing the area. Feel free to do a little lifting, moving, or digging to gain access to ground-dwelling insects.
3. Count and write down how many different types of plants, grasses, flowers, leaves, or weeds you see in that area. You don't need to count individual blades or leaves, just the different types in that area. Describe each item (four-leaf clover, crab grass, rose flower, spiny leaf, green pepper plant, etc.)
4. Count and write down how many different types of insects you see. Also write down the type of insect. If you don't know the type, describe the insect (color, shape, does it look like it belongs to a certain insect family, does if fly, how many legs).
5. For each insect, write down what it appears to be doing. Is it looking for food, looking for shelter, looking to return somewhere? Is it pollinating a plant or chewing on a leaf? Is it defending itself or trying to protect a certain area?
6. Repeat these steps in a different area and write down your observances.

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What Did You Learn?

1. How do the two habitats differ? Did one habitat have more types of plants than the other?
2. Which habitat had more insects? Which habitat had more types of insects?
3. How might plant diversity affect insect diversity?
4. Did you see the insects doing anything interesting? Were any eating plants? Were any eating other insects?
5. Where were the insects located? Were they on the plants, hovering around, or were they on the ground?
6. Were there differences between habitats in where the insects were located and what they were doing.
7. Which area had a healthier biodiversity, and why?

Researchers are Close to Hooking Fatal Catfish Disease

After grappling with a malady that decimates farm-raised catfish, ARS scientists at the Aquatic Animal Health Research lab in Auburn, AL, are close to landing answers and potential remedies to the elusive disease.

Aeromonas hydrophila has ravaged the catfish farming industry in Alabama and other states since its discovery in 2009. The bacterial disease causes hemorrhages on the fish’s body, loss of orientation, and rapid death. Last year, Alabama catfish farmers lost about $13.5 million in revenue – 9% higher than the previous year – due to fish mortality, costs of medicated feed and chemical treatments, and lost feeding days.

Scientists are taking a holistic approach to their research, systematically studying the impact of diet, oxygen depletion, chemical treatments, abrasions, parasite infections, and more to understand how the pathogen works.

Read this article to learn more

Fighting Pests the Organic Way

Farmers have long used pesticides to protect their plants and crops from hungry pests, such as the spotted wing drosophila fly (SWD). This beautiful creature has wreaked havoc on farms in the west, causing over $700 million annually in crop damage. Farmers fight SWD with synthetic insecticides, but that can be expensive and is also harmful to the environment, contributes to pesticide resistance, and may be harmful to humans.

ARS researchers may have found an organic alternative from a substance we use every day at home. Methyl benzoate is a naturally occurring compound produced by plants, and its fruity and floral aroma makes it a staple in perfumes and cosmetics and as a food additive. Nature also employs it to attract pollinators. When used as an organic pesticide, however, it’s been shown to kill or repel many insects in various stages of development, including mosquitoes, bed bugs, fire ants, ticks, flies, moths, and the brown marmorated stink bug. Perhaps most important, however, is its ability to repel and kill SWD, a major destroyer of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries. Because methyl benzoate is an environmentally friendly, bio-based compound, it has great potential to be used by people for human protection as an alternative to synthetic pesticides. It also costs less than synthetic pesticide treatments.

Read "Organic Multitasking: From Human Food Additive to Pesticide" to learn more.