HAGERMAN — Already full of fish stories, Hagerman has landed another big one.

Today, the University of Idaho is dedicating a $3.2 million biotechnology aquaculture laboratory and office complex that will further enhance the region’s leadership role in fish production and research.

The complex covers 13,000 square feet and includes 14 offices and eight cubicles for technicians and graduate students.

“We are the scientists that help agencies and business come to rational decisions about aquaculture,” said Ron Hardy, director of the university’s Aquaculture Research Institute and Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station.

He explained that when he first arrived on the scene 10 years ago, a main concern among local trout farms was the amount of phosphorus in fish waste.

“At that time, the industry was saying these standards are going to kill us,” he said. “But when we looked at the situation and did some research, we found out that phosphorous levels coming out of the fish was tied to the amount going in. By changing the fish’s diet, we were able to lower the levels. That’s the kind of stuff we do.”

Today’s dedication will include speeches by Gov. Jim Risch and also Andy Hammond, USDA representative, and a tour of the facility.

The building took a year to complete. The new facilities will provide research space for selective trout breeding programs based on gene markers, increasing research capabilities in fish disease prevention, developing alternative aquaculture industries such as ornamental fish cultivation and utilizing products from Idaho barley to replace marine protein in fish feeds worldwide.

The dedication comes on the heels of a report from Blackwell Science Publications at Oxford University that ranked the University of Idaho No. 1 in the nation and seventh in the world in number of papers published in fish disease journals.

Hardy said that the aquaculture industry is on the rise with 43 percent of fish consumed in the world now being farm-raised.

“We are the go-to people for government and also industry in places like the U.S., Asia and Chile. They are coming to us for product development and testing in aquaculture. There is so much more to it than the fish — you name it, from processing, to fish feed, breeding and genetics — services for everything in the industry are on the rise.”

The Hagerman site is centrally located to the nation’s top-producing trout farms. Three-fourths of the nation’s commercial rainbow trout are produced in the area. In 2005, 44 million pounds valued at $35 million were produced.

“We couldn’t have done all this without the effort of the U of I, USDA and the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission,” Hardy said. “We are working side by side in a common use lab that none of us could afford separately. We needed the new building so that we could continue to gather even more partners.”

Times-News correspondent Blair Koch can be reached by e-mail at blairkoch@gmail.com or by calling 316-2607.