Aquaculture — raising fish or shrimp for food — may offer an opportunity for Iowa farmers to diversify their operations, but it also isn’t a step to take without doing your homework, noted panelists during the Iowa Aquaculture Conference held last month in Ames.

“There are so many ways to go about this and so many different products. There are so many different technologies that you can employ,” said Joe Sweeney, CEO of Eagle’s Catch, a tilapia farm located in ...