Introducing youth to aquaculture products has potential to promote healthier eating choices and develop lasting culinary skills. Kentucky State University Aquaculture provides k-12 aquaculture and aquaponics extension programming to schools throughout the state. Locust Trace AgriScience Center in Lexington, Kentucky participates in the KSU “Aquaponics in the Classroom” curriculum and also has an 800-gallon recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in their greenhouse. Agriculture teacher, Mrs. Allisa Thompson incorporates project-based investigations in her aquaculture curriculum to promote student engagement and lesson retention. For their final examination, the students completed presentations detailing fish processing procedures, then filleted and developed recipes during an in-class demonstration.  This “Hook to Cook Guidebook” activity provided hands-on aquaculture education in anatomy, processing, food safety, and culinary skills. Students were encouraged to also explore nutritious eating habits, food literacy and seafood product acceptability. 

Approximately 40 channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) averaging 700g each were donated by KSU Aquaculture to Locust Trace for this activity. Students stocked the fish into their 800-gallon RAS and maintained water quality for approximately 2 weeks prior to harvest for the program. The students were given 3 class periods to create PowerPoint presentations that detailed step by step directions for the processing of their catfish. Then for the lab practical portion, the students filleted their catfish in the classroom and cooked it into the recipes they developed. They took photographs of themselves fileting and cooking the fish and included these into their final PowerPoint presentations. The students had a friendly recipe competition, and the best recipe received a prize. 

The students really enjoyed this program and in a short survey stated that the activity made them more open to trying new foods and increased confidence in cooking skills.  The success of this activity can be attributed to the students researching and developing the processing protocols prior to the hands-on demonstration. This allowed them to have better confidence, understanding and preparedness for the actual filleting. The friendly recipe competition also helped to engage and motivate the students to perform their best.