Aquaculture Program at Wyoming Women's Center

The Aquaculture Program is the first correctional industry to be established at the Wyoming Women’s Center. The program involves being a grow out facility for Tilapia fish. Tilapias are a fast growing warm water fish which are growing in popularity because of their mild flavor and firm texture. Fingerlings are brought to the facility and placed in nursery tanks for 45 days. They are transferred to the large grow out tanks until market size is reached at one and a half pounds live weight. The fish are shipped live from the facility by truck in insulated tanks. The facility will produce 90,000 to 100,000 pounds of Tilapia a year. 

The aquaculture program is an educational opportunity for inmates as they learn biology, chemistry through water quality testing, aquaculture management and computer skills. Feed inventory and use, growth rates, mortality and fish sales are tracked on a database by the workers. The sixteen aquaculture workers are learning job skills which are transferable to many business and management situations.