Louisiana leads the nation in producing crawfish, crab, and shrimp, however none of Louisiana's industrial plants currently transforms the millions of pounds of aquatic waste into useful products. Calvin Walker, Ph.D., Southern University Ag Center research scientist, believes that Louisiana should play a major role, through research and processing, in the transformation of aquatic waste into value-added products.

"Clean air, land, and water are priceless," says Walker who emphasizes environmental stewardship. He says universities-especially those in areas that have viable aquaculture industries-must be proactive in continuing to explore ways and technologies for dealing with aquatic waste (from crawfish, crab, and shrimp).

As a result, Walker and the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center are actively developing environmentally friendly technologies for using aquatic waste. A recently patented low-input process designed by Walker allows Louisiana to cope with an increase in state and federal environmental mandates for clean air, land and water. Current Southern University Ag Center research has the potential to develop an environmentally benign technology for converting aquatic waste into a viable protein supplement for livestock and into an organic soil amendment and fertilizer. This will significantly impact Louisiana livestock producers because protein is the most expensive nutrient in livestock rations. Utilizing various forms of aquaculture meal could provide the benefit of low production cost for farmers. Use of aquatic waste in livestock feed and as a soil amendment is consistent with the USDA's focus on low-input sustainable agriculture.