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New Jersey has nearly 190 licensed aquaculturists and four commercial shellfish hatcheries. (Photo: NOAA/FIS)
NOAA grants USD 300,000 for aquaculture extension agent
(UNITED STATES, 9/29/2010)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant Programme has just given USD 300,000 to the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium/New Jersey Sea Grant (NJMSC/NJSG) and Rutgers University's Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory (HSRL) to support an aquaculture extension agent with shellfish know-how. The three-year grant will finance a New Jersey Sea Grant extension agent to assist ongoing oyster aquaculture studies being run at HSRL.
“NJMSC/NJSG is pleased to partner with HSRL on this grant that will support an aquaculture extension agent dedicated to the shellfish industry in southern New Jersey,” noted Peter Rowe, director of extension and research for NJMSC/NJSG. “We look forward to transferring research results and products to the oystermen in order to revitalize a historically important industry on the Delaware Bay.”
By the time the three-year funding period runs out, the new agent will have developed materials for both technical and non-technical audiences on the diverse aspects of rack and bag, cage culture and shell planting, including comparison of yield for diploid and triploid disease resistant oyster strains and control of Vibrio. The agent will also encourage extension efforts entailing multiple partners in industry, academia, local, county, state and regional agencies and other Sea Grant programmes.
New Jersey has nearly 190 licensed aquaculturists and four commercial shellfish hatcheries. Recent breakthroughs in oyster and hard clam farming in the state and the Mid-Atlantic region, plus the establishment of school-based outreach programme, are helping create an integrated extension programme.
“This federal funding is critically important and will strengthen aquaculture efforts primarily in southern New Jersey,” said John Kraeuter, associate director at HSRL. “The Delaware Bay oyster aquaculture efforts were severely impacted by the loss of a highly effective Sea Grant aquaculture agent three years ago, so this is an important reinvestment for the state and region.”
Although programmes in New Jersey’s Atlantic Coast hard clam culture are covered by a Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) agent, the Delaware Bay has lacked the resources, information and outreach of an aquaculture agent.
The new aquaculture agent, who will administratively be a programme coordinator in the statewide RCE organisation, will be hired within the next few months and work out of the HSRL facility in Cape May, New Jersey.
NJMSC/NJSG is an affiliation of colleges, universities and other groups working to advance knowledge and stewardship of the state’s marine and coastal ecosystem. NJMSC/NJSG offers innovative research, education and outreach programmes.
RCE, the service and outreach aspect of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, supports the state’s diverse population as it adapts to a swiftly changing society and helps improve the residents’ lives and communities through an educational process using science-based knowledge.
By Natalia Real
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
Information of the company:
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Address:
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New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium 22 Magruder Road Fort Hancock
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State/ZIP:
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New Jersey (NJ-07732)
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Country:
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United States
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Phone:
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+1 732 872 1300
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E-Mail:
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General@njmsc.org
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