In the summer of 2016 the USDA ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center (NCWMAC) started investing the potential of breeding lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus ). The goal of the program was to establish spawning and husbandry techniques in the US to allow for the use of lumpfish as cleaner fish in the US salmon aquaculture industry. The center spawned fish for the first time in the spring of 2017 and successfully hatched eggs in the spring of 2018. The program has faced several challenges including disease outbreaks due to the collection of wild broodstock animals and difficulty in maintaining a consistent supply of potential broodstock .
In 2018, the NCWMAC began collaborative efforts with both the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR) to expand research efforts in the US on this species. In particular, the consortium is looking at nutritional studies on lumpfish and improving commercial scale husbandry techniques. One of the primary goals of the program is to rapidly translate research findings from studies at the NCWMAC and UNH into a commercial scale breeding program at CCAR.