Have you ever heard of Florida pompano? It's a flat, silvery fish and very delicious! In fact, people who know a lot about fish say it's one of the best-tasting kinds of fish in the world to eat. Maybe that's one reason why it costs so much to buy pompano (鲳参鱼) at the fish market or at a restaurant. Agricultural Research Service scientists in Florida are discovering many new and important secrets about this tasty fish. It lives in the warm waters off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The scientists are studying pompano. Because they want fish farmers to be able to grow them in big tanks, somewhat the same way trout and catfish are grown in big outdoor ponds. Raising pompano in big tanks inland could help everyone be sure that there will always be lots of wild pompano in the sea. People could buy them from the fish farm instead of mostly only being able to buy pompano caught from the sea. Sometimes, if a fish is too popular, a problem called "overfishing" can happen. The fish could become harder and harder to find in the ocean. The fish might even disappear completely. The trouble with pompano is that no one really knows very much about how to grow big, healthy pompano in big tanks at a fish farm. That's why scientists are trying to learn as much as they can about pompano. Maybe someday soon it will be easy to buy and eat pompano raised at fish farms, instead of pompano fished from the sea. When that happens, you may remember this story about these scientists who helped find out how to raise delicious pompano in a new, Earth-friendly way. |