The program maintains the WID Network, which includes partner non-governmental organizations, community members, faculty, staff and students. WID offers periodic seminars and for credit academic courses, works to strengthen the consideration of gender concerns in OSU curriculum development, maintains a library and resources center, and submits proposals for and manages international development projects. The cultivation of aquatic plants and animals is an ancient art and an emerging science. Global demand for fish has soared in the past decade, while stocks of wild fish have dwindled. In many developing countries, fish is the most important source of animal protein.
Aquaculture promises to be the primary means of increasing fish production.
Researchers from host countries and the US design and implement the research agenda. The Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is a cooperative research and graduate education program supported cooperatively by the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon State University, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Management Institute are also cooperators. The unit consists of four federal scientists functioning as faculty members with postdoctoral and graduate students, research assistants and associates, student employees, and seasonal aids. The goal of the unit is to conduct research of regional, national, and international significance using graduate students as the vehicle.