September 20, 2006

 

US awards US$3.6 million in funding for research into marine aquaculture
 

 

The US government is allocating US$3.6 million in funding for sustainable marine aquaculture projects, Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced last week.

 

The funds would be distributed among 11 recipients by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

Among the recipients is the Oceanic Institute of Waimanalo in Hawaii, whose scientists would be studying the effects of offshore aquaculture.

 

The study by the Oceanic Institute and the University of Hawaii would look at Cates International, a company which grows moi ( a species of threadfin) in cages.

 

The project would look at the effects of effluent generated, disease transfer between wild and cultured stocks, and the future development of offshore cages, according to the Oceanic Institute.

 

Charles Laidley, programme manager of Oceanic Institute's Finfish Department, would be heading the team. The results of the project would form the basis for sound environmental practices in off-shore aquaculture, he said.

 

Meanwhile, a private company, GreatBay Aquaculture another recipient of the grant, would be awarded US$249,000 in funding to develop sustainable Atlantic cod production through aquaculture.

 

Sen. John Sununu, R-NH, chairman of the Commerce Committee's National Ocean Policy Study Subcommittee, said aquaculture accounts for the rising percentage of the fish and shellfish that Americans consume everyday. The company is expected to conduct its research in the north-eastern states of Maine and New Hampshire.

 

Sununu said aquaculture is playing an increasingly important role in the seafood consumed in the US and companies like GreatBay Aquaculture play an critical role in the research and development of sustainable fish production.

 

Atlantic cod is one of the main candidates for expansion of aquaculture in the United States, Sununu said, adding that the funding would support research that would boost the growth of this species in both nursery culture onshore and offshore grow-out operations.

 

According to George Nardi, chief technology officer of GreatBay Aquaculture, this project demonstrates the commercial production of cod in an environmentally sustainable manner from the hatchery through harvest.

 

In the long term, it would provide new skills and jobs as the industry grows and high quality seafood could be provided to the consumer on a year-round basis.

 

GreatBay has been a pioneer in developing hatchery and nursery technologies for native cold-water marine fish, said Dr. Richard Langan, director of UNH's Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Centre.