New video highlights long-time family business raising trout for stocking

Posted March 27th, 2023 in Aquaculture, Featured, Video
Crystal Lake Fisheries

Nestled in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, Crystal Lake Fisheries has been a family trout farm for 70 years. Dwight and Mary Alice Emerson came to the site in 1950, drawn by the natural spring, and soon the Emerson’s were in the aquaculture business.

Crystal Lake Fisheries is the latest aquaculture farm featured in Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s video series Local Farmers, Local Fish.

“We created this video series to help inform seafood consumers as well as recreational anglers about fish and seafood farming in the Midwest,” said Amy Shambach, IISG aquaculture marketing outreach associate. “Aquaculture is a diverse and often misunderstood industry.”

This video is the first in the series to highlight aquaculture focused on raising fish for stocking.

The Emersons raise their own registered strain of rainbow trout from eggs to sportfish and they deliver these fish to private customers and through community and state contracts to stock local lakes and streams in Missouri and many other states.

“Our fish are fast biting and hard fighting,” said David Emerson, one of the Emersons’ sons and Crystal Lake Fisheries co-owner, along with his brother Marvin. “The majority of what we sell is stocked in water for people to catch.”

 

Trout have a long history of being farmed in the United States, going back to the 1800s, raised both for food and in state and private hatcheries for stocking. These fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and are considered a “Best Choice” seafood option for pregnant women and children by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.

This video is the ninth in the Local Farmers, Local Fish series that has highlighted farms in five Midwestern states. The project is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Sea Grant Office and in partnership with Purdue University, University of Illinois, North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network.

For more information on trout and other locally raised fish, visit Eat Midwest Fish, which includes trout recipes, watch local farmers videos or download IISG’s Rainbow Trout: Farmed Fish Factsheet, developed to answer consumer questions about these fish.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a partnership between NOAA, University of Illinois Extension, and Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources, bringing science together with communities for solutions that work. Sea Grant is a network of 34 science, education and outreach programs located in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Lake Champlain, Puerto Rico and Guam.

 

Writer: Irene Miles
Contact: Amy Shambach

IISG Instagram

Looking for a fun way to teach about marine debris? Check out Me and Debry, which is a whimsical, 30‑minute, audience‑participation play created for @UWiscSeaGrant. It helps students explore what marine debris is, why it matters, and how we can make a difference in the Great Lakes.

The full script (English) and participation scripts (English, Spanish, and Hmong) are free to use, along with marketing materials for performances.

Bring learning to life and start a conversation about litter in our waters!

Check it out at the link in bio.

#TeachingTuesday

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18104492783310070
Looking for a fun way to teach about marine debris? Check out Me and Debry, which is a whimsical, 30‑minute, audience‑participation play created for @UWiscSeaGrant. It helps students explore what marine debris is, why it matters, and how we can make a difference in the Great Lakes.The full script (English) and participation scripts (English, Spanish, and Hmong) are free to use, along with marketing materials for performances.Bring learning to life and start a conversation about litter in our waters!Check it out at the link in bio.#TeachingTuesday

Do you work or live along the Great Lakes coasts? Watch our newly released video series collection, containing several short videos that overview the range of coastal protection options in the Great Lakes, including:

- Natural processes in the Great Lakes
- Hard coastal protection structures and how they interact with/alter natural processes
- Nature-based coastal solutions in the Great Lakes, ranging from green to gray approaches

Find our two new video series at the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18075599984541727
Do you work or live along the Great Lakes coasts? Watch our newly released video series collection, containing several short videos that overview the range of coastal protection options in the Great Lakes, including:- Natural processes in the Great Lakes- Hard coastal protection structures and how they interact with/alter natural processes- Nature-based coastal solutions in the Great Lakes, ranging from green to gray approachesFind our two new video series at the link in bio.

Located in Washington, D.C., the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. This is a one-year fellowship open to any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program on the day of the deadline.

Students enrolled at an Illinois or Indiana university or college should submit their applications through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant by emailing Angela Archer at amcbride@purdue.edu. Students in surrounding states without a Sea Grant program should contact the National Sea Grant College Program at oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov for a referral.

Application deadline: June 3, 2026.

To learn more about the fellowship, visit the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18136822375511465
Located in Washington, D.C., the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. This is a one-year fellowship open to any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program on the day of the deadline.Students enrolled at an Illinois or Indiana university or college should submit their applications through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant by emailing Angela Archer at amcbride@purdue.edu. Students in surrounding states without a Sea Grant program should contact the National Sea Grant College Program at oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov for a referral. Application deadline: June 3, 2026.To learn more about the fellowship, visit the link in bio.