Welcome to the website of the USDA/ARS National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture (NCCCWA), located in Leetown, WV.   We are a research station of 35 employees whose mission is to support and enhance the nation’s cool and cold water aquaculture production through research and technology transfer.   Our research programs focus primarily on rainbow trout and include applied genetics and breeding, integrated aquatic animal health, aquaculture engineering, nutrition, physiology, culture and management, and product quality.   Ultimately, we envision a US trout product whose production is efficient and has a minimal impact on the environment, and provides a healthy option for consumers being low in fat and having high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids .  

To date our accomplishments include:

Ø   Developing a broodstock population selected for enhanced growth;

Ø   Developing a broodstock population selected for resistance to cold water disease;

Ø   Establishing protocols for producing tetraploids which can be mated with diploids to produce fast growing, sterile triploid fish;

Ø   Constructing maps of chromosomes to identify genes affecting production traits;

Ø   Development of genetic markers for parentage/population genetic analyses.  

Ø   Sequencing the genomes of bacterial pathogens responsible for disease outbreaks in aquaculture environments.  

Thank you for visiting our website!

Caird E. Rexroad III