Friday fish fries are a longstanding Wisconsin tradition, especially during Lent. For years, yellow perch was a fish fry staple and could be harvested right out of the Great Lakes, but the tide has turned.
Perch and other fish native to the Great Lakes have dwindled in part due to invasive species. UWM School of Freshwater Sciences’ Osvaldo Jhonatan Sepulveda Villet is among the scientists looking to help.
Sepulveda Villet starts by explaining how difficult it is for baby perch to survive in the Great Lakes. "It's a really, really tough environment to be in, a tough environment to survive. Most baby perch in the wild just don't make it. We think anywhere from between five or maybe as few as 1% of all eggs that hatch will make it to adulthood."
From his perspective, millions of taxpayers dollars could be used to put baby perch into the lake, but the perch would still starve and struggle. "The environment has changed so much that no matter how much we try to intervene, the odds are stacked against the fish," he says.
Rather, Sepulveda Villet says, maybe the solution is to farm these fish through genetically improved lines that breed fish that grow bigger faster.
From finding ways to more sustainably feed fish to combating diseases, fish farming is not easy. But, he says, the world needs protein to eat and our traditional ways of getting protein are not sustainable, so fish farming is important.
Sepulveda Villet's hope is to continue to put food on people's plates that is nutritious and sustainable. "My goal is to keep people fit and happy and be able to reminisce and know that the fish will be there for years to come — even if it's not out there on the Great Lakes, we can still produce it here."
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