Hi all,
FYI, the USDA does a tally of how many aquaculture operations there are in the US every 5 years. This information feeds into how much federal support the USDA gives different agricultural sectors in terms of research and incentives. These counts matter. It's how USDA does things.
Soft crab production is defined as aquaculture by both NOAA and the USDA, but the USDA has not supported any soft crab culture to my knowledge.
If you are a commercial producer in any state, the link here will let you add your shedding operation to the tally. The data will not be shared with any government agency.
Below is the link and the text you see on the first page.
When signing up, please keep these items in mind to better understand how USDA NASS counts aquaculture production:
To be counted as an aquaculture farm, some form of intervention in the rearing process, such as seeding, stocking, feeding, or protection from predators, must be done by the producer.
Aquaculture is defined as the farming of aquatic organisms, including baitfish, crustaceans, food fish, mollusks, ornamental fish, sport or game fish, algae and sea vegetables, and other aquaculture products.
https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/static/get-counted.html"Make Sure Your Farm or Ranch Counts!
Your agricultural operation, large or small, is important to U.S. agriculture. NASS conducts a census of all agricultural operations every five years as well as other agricultural surveys. We need to know about all types of agricultural operations of all sizes. Please fill in all the information below. New names will be processed for future surveys and censuses.
The Information you provide is kept confidential by law, Title 7, U.S. Code and will not be disclosed to any other government or private entity."
