Aquacu nd ltu a r e s e J i o r u e r h n s a i l F Fisheries and Aquaculture Journal Stutzman et al., Fish Aqua J 2017, 8:3 ISSN: 2150-3508 DOI: 10.4172/2150-3508.1000214 Review Article Open Access Understanding the Role of Fish Farmer Associations as Intermediaries for the Commercialization of Aquaculture in Uganda Emily Stutzman1, Joseph Molnar2*, Gertrude Atukunda3 and John Walakira3 1Lipscomb University, 1 University Park Dr Nashville, TN 37204, USA 2Auburn University, 203 Comer Hall Auburn, AL 36849, USA 3Aquaculture Research and Development Center-Kajjansi, National Fisheries Resources Research Institute-NARO, Kampala, Uganda *Corresponding author: Joseph Molnar, Auburn University, 203 Comer Hall Auburn, AL 36849, USA, Tel: +1 334-844-2345; E-mail:
[email protected] Received date: July 13, 2017; Accepted date: August 04, 2017; Published date: August 11, 2017 Copyright: © 2017 Stutzman E, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Aquaculture development commentary supports the formation of fish farmer associations or producer organizations as avenues for cultivating small- and medium-scale commercial farmers. However, little is known about the types of associations that facilitate commercialization. This research presents four qualitative case studies, based on semi-structured interviews, profiling existing associations of commercial fish farmers in Uganda. We conclude that the umbrella organizations under which local fish farmer associations vertically align themselves have important implications for fish farmer production.