COMPENDIUM REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. aquaculture industry continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors within U.S. agriculture, although at a lesser rate than what occurred during the 1980s. Production in 1994 reached 666 million pounds and generated approximately $751 million for producers. The impact of U.S. aquaculture is substantial accounting for approximately 181,000 jobs and generating an estimated $5.6 billion annually. Yet, anticipated growth in the industry, both in magnitude and in species diversity, continues to fall short of expectations.

Much of what is known about aquaculture science is a result of institutional attention given to our traditional capture of wild fisheries with the goal of releasing cultured fishes into public waters for enhancement of declining public stocks. Despite extensive efforts to manage wild populations for a sustained yield, as a nation we consume substantially greater amounts than we produce. Much of the United States’ demand for seafood has been met by imports. The U.S. imports over 40% of its fish and shellfish and, after Japan, is the world's second largest importer of seafood. Fisheries imports are the largest contributor to the U.S. trade deficit among agricultural products, and the second largest after petroleum, among all natural resources products. The value of imported fisheries products more than doubled during the 1980s and has continued to increase in the 1990s. In fact, the $12.5 billion value for 1995 was a record. In 1995, the trade deficit was $4.2 billion for all fisheries products, $3.5 billion of which was for edible fish and shellfish.

Landings for most commercial capture fisheries species and recreational fisheries of the United States have been relatively stable during the last decade, with many fish stocks being overexploited. In this situation, aquaculture provides an opportunity to reduce the trade deficit and meet the rising U.S. demand for fish products. A strong domestic aquaculture industry is needed to increase U.S. production of fish and shellfish. This can be achieved by a partnership among the Federal Government, State and local public institutions, and the private sector with expertise in aquaculture development.

Congress recognized the opportunity for making significant progress in aquaculture development in 1980 by passage of the National Aquaculture Act (P.L. 96-362). Congress amended the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-113) in Title XIV of the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 (P.L. 97-98) by granting authority to establish aquaculture research, development, and demonstration centers in the United States in association with colleges and universities, State Departments of Agriculture, Federal facilities, and non-profit private research institutions. Five such centers have been established: one in each of the northeastern, north central, southern, western, and tropical/subtropical Pacific regions of the country. The 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (FAIR) (P.L. 104-127) otherwise know as the Farm Bill, has reauthorized the Regional Aquaculture Center program at $7.5 million per annum. As used here, a center refers to an administrative center. Centers do not provide monies for brick-and-mortar development. Centers encourage cooperative and collaborative aquaculture research and extension educational programs that have regional or national application. Center programs complement and strengthen other existing research and extension educational programs provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other public institutions. As a matter of policy, centers implement their programs by using institutional mechanisms and linkages that are in place in the public and private sector.

The mission of the Regional Aquaculture Centers (RACs) is to support aquaculture research, development, demonstration, and extension education to enhance viable and profitable U.S. aquaculture production which will benefit consumers, producers, service industries, and the American economy.

The North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC) was established in February 1988. It serves as a focal point to assess needs, establish priorities, and implement research and extension educational programs in the twelve state agricultural heartland of the United States which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. NCRAC also provides coordination of interregional and national programs through the National Coordinating Council for Aquaculture (NCC). The council is composed of the RAC directors and USDA aquaculture personnel.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Michigan State University (MSU) and Iowa State University (ISU) work together to develop and administer programs of NCRAC through a memorandum of understanding. MSU is the prime contractor for the Center and has administrative responsibilities for its operation. The Director of NCRAC is located at MSU. ISU shares in leadership of the Center through an office of the Associate Director who is responsible for all aspects of the Center's publications, technology transfer and outreach activities.

At the present time the staff of NCRAC at MSU includes Ted R. Batterson, Director and Liz Bartels, Executive Secretary. The Center Director has the following responsibilities:

· Serving as executive secretary to the Board of Directors, responsible for preparing agenda and minutes of Board meetings;

· Serving as an ex-officio (non-voting) member of the Technical Committee and Industry Advisory Council;

· Coordinating the development of research and extension plans, budgets, and proposals;

· Coordinating and facilitating interactions among the Administrative Center, Board of Directors, Industry Advisory Council, and Technical Committee;

· Monitoring research and extension activities;

· Arranging for review of proposals for technical and scientific merit, feasibility, and applicability to priority problems and preparing summary budgets and reports as required;

· Recruiting other Administrative Center staff as authorized by the Board of Directors;

· With assistance of the Economics and Marketing Work Group, Technical Committee, or others preparing a summary of regional aquaculture, including production statistics and sales, and identifying technical, financial, and institutional constraints to expanding production. The summary shall include sections addressing established industries, development industries, and opportunities for new product development, and recommended research needs;

· Maintaining liaison with other RACs; and

· Serving on the NCC.

At the present time the staff of NCRAC's Office for Publications and Extension Administration at ISU includes Joseph E. Morris, Associate Director and Glenda Dike, Secretary. The Associate Director has the following responsibilities:

· Serving as head of Publications for NCRAC, including editor of the Center’s newsletter;

· Serving as the NCRAC liaison with national aquaculture extension programs, including in particular, extension programs of the other four USDA RACs; and

· Serving as a member of NCRAC's Extension Executive Committee.

The Board of Directors (BOD) is the primary policy-making body of the NCRAC. The BOD has established an Industry Advisory Council (IAC) and Technical Committee (TC). Membership of the BOD consists of two persons from the IAC (the chair and an at-large member), a representative from the region's State Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative Extension Services, a member from a non-land grant university and representatives from the two universities responsible for the center: Michigan State and Iowa State. The IAC is composed of representatives from each state’s aquaculture association and six at-large members appointed by the BOD who represent various sectors of the aquaculture industry and the region as a whole. The TC is composed of a sub-committee for Extension (TC/E) and a subcommittee for Research (TC/R). Directors of the Cooperative Extension Service within the North Central Region appoint representatives to the TC/E. The TC/R has broad regional make-up and is composed of scientists from universities and state agencies with varied aquacultural expertise who are appointed by the BOD. Each sub-committee of the TC has a chairperson who serves as an ex-officio member of the BOD.

NCRAC functions in accordance with its Operations Manual which is periodically amended and updated with BOD approval. It is an evolving document that has changed as the Center's history lengthens. It is used for the development of the cooperative regional aquaculture and extension projects that NCRAC funds.

ADMINISTRATIVE OPERATIONS

Since inception of NCRAC February 1, 1988, the role of the Administrative Center has been to provide all necessary support services to the BOD, IAC, TC, and project work groups for the North Central Region as well as representing the region on the NCC. As the scope of the NCRAC programs expand, this has entailed a greater work load and continued need for effective communication among all components of the Center and the aquaculture community.

The Center functions in the following manner.

· After BOD approval of Administrative Center costs, the Center submits a grant to USDA/CSREES/Grants Management Branch for approval. To date the Center has received nine grants from USDA for FY88 (Grant #88-38500-3885), FY89 (Grant #89-38500-4319), FY90 (Grant #90-38500-5008), FY91 (Grant #91-38500-5900), FY92 (Grant #92-38500-6916), FY93 (Grant #93-38500-8392), FY94 (Grant #94-38500-0048), FY95 (Grant #95-38500-1410), and FY96 (Grant #96-38500-2631) with monies totaling $6,440,981. Currently, five grants are active (FY92-96); the first four grants (FY88-91) have terminated.

· The Center annually coordinates a program planning meeting which sets priorities for the next funding cycle and calls for regional workshops to develop project outlines to address priority problem areas.

· Work Groups, which are formed at the workshops, submit project outlines to the Center. The projects are peer reviewed by experts from both within and outside the region.

· The BOD, using reviewers’ responses, decides which projects are to be approved and funding levels. The Center conveys BOD decisions to all Project Work Groups. Those that are approved for funding are asked to submit revised project outlines incorporating BOD and reviewers’ comments.

· The Center then submits the revised project outlines as a Plan of Work (POW) to USDA for approval.

· Once a POW is approved by USDA, the Center then prepares subcontracts for each participating institution. The Center receives all invoices for subcontractual agreements and prepares payment vouchers for reimbursement. Thus, the Center staff serve as fiscal agent for both receiving and disbursing of funds in accordance with all terms and provisions of the grants.

To date, the Center has funded or is funding 36 projects through 224 subcontracts from the nine grants received. Funding for all Center supported projects is summarized in Table 1 below.

During this reporting period, the Publications Office at ISU produced and distributed a number of publications including fact sheets, technical bulletins, videos, and the Center’s newsletter. A complete list of all publications from this office is included in the Appendix under Extension.

Other areas of support by the Administrative Office during this reporting period included: monitoring research and extension activities and developing progress reports; facilitating a program review of the Center (see Appendix B which contains the reviewers’ summary report); developing liaisons with appropriate institutions, agencies and clientele groups; preparing, in coordination with the other RACs, both written and oral testimony for the U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies hearing in Washington, D.C.; participating in the NCC; numerous oral and written presentations to both professional and lay audiences; working with other fisheries and aquaculture programs throughout the North Central Region; and in conjunction with the Aquaculture Network Information Center (AquaNIC) creating a NCRAC web site (www.ansc.purdue.edu/aquanic/ncrac).

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

A joint Program Planning meeting of the BOD, IAC, and TC is held every year in the early winter. The IAC, with input from the TC, generates a list of priority areas for consideration by the BOD. Using their recommendation as guidelines, the BOD then selects priority areas for which project outlines will be developed. The BOD also specifies a maximum funding level for each priority area. Problem statements and objectives are then developed for each priority area by IAC and TC members at the Program Planning meeting. For projects with more than one objective, the IAC ranks the objectives by priority. The problem statement and objective(s) are then included in a workshop announcement that is broadly distributed throughout the North Central Region. The workshops are one-day events to establish a work group that will develop a project outline over the summer months. Work group members will be those who have demonstrated that they have the expertise and facilities for undertaking the proposed work in regard to a particular objective or objectives. The proposed work cannot deviate from the objective or objectives included in the workshop announcement. The work group elects a chair and secretary. The chair is responsible for submitting the project outline to the NCRAC Director; the secretary is responsible for preparing minutes from the workshop that are distributed to all attendees. All project outlines are peer reviewed. The reviewers’ comments are used by the BOD in making the final selection of projects and level of funding at the following year's annual Program Planning meeting. All work group members are apprised of the BOD decisions. Revisions of projects approved by the BOD are submitted by the work group chair to the NCRAC Director. The revised project outlines are then included in a POW that is submitted to USDA. Upon approval by USDA, the Center issues subcontracts to the funded work group members.

TIME FRAME

· Program Planning meeting: early winter.

· Workshops: late-spring, early summer.

· Project outlines developed over the summer by work group members who participated in the workshops. These project outlines are then submitted to the Center in the fall and peer reviewed.

· The Board of Directors at the following year's Program Planning meeting selects the projects to be funded.

· Project outline revised and submitted to the Center by May.

· Revised projects are then submitted in June as a POW (or an amendment to a POW) to USDA for approval. Once approved by USDA subcontracts are let by the Center with a start date of September 1.

By following this procedure, it takes approximately 18 months from the time of identifying a priority area until inception of a project to address the issue in question.

WORKSHOPS

The purpose of the workshops is to bring together those who are best qualified to work on project objectives by virtue of a demonstrated record of expertise and access to facilities required in the project. These people form a work group for the purpose of writing a project outline to address the problem in question. The following criteria typically apply to those projects that are funded by NCRAC.

· Involves participation by two or more states in the North Central Region;

· requires more scientific manpower, equipment, and facilities than generally available at one location;

· approach is adaptable and particularly suitable for inter-institutional cooperation resulting in better use of limited resources and a saving of funds;

· will complement and enhance ongoing extension and research activities by participants, as well as offer potential for expanding these programs;

· is likely to attract additional support for the work which is not likely to occur through other programs and mechanisms;

· is sufficiently specific to promise significant accomplishments in a reasonable period to time (usually up to 2 years);

· can provide the solution to a problem of fundamental importance or fill an information gap;

· can be organized and conducted on a regional level, assuring coordinated and complementary contributions by all participants.

The NCRAC program pays no overhead to participating institutions nor tuition remission, has no brick-and-mortar money, and relies on in-place salaried personnel, equipment, and facilities to carry out the projects. Due to the collaborative and cooperative nature of these regional projects, no one individual or institution receives a significant portion of the total project funds.

PROJECT REPORTING

As indicated in Table 1, NCRAC has funded a number of projects for many of the project areas it has selected for research and extension activities. For example, there have been five separately funded projects in regard to Extension and six for Walleye. Project outlines have been written for each separate project within an area, or the project area itself if only one project. These project outlines have been submitted in Plans of Work (POWs) or amendments to POWs for the grants as indicated in Table 1. Many times, the projects within a particular area are merely continuations of previously funded activities; while at other times they are addressing new objectives. Presented below are Progress or Termination Reports for all projects that were underway or completed during the period May 1, 1989 to August 31, 1996. May 1, 1989 marked the beginning of the first projects funded by NCRAC.

All publications, manuscripts, or papers presented for all funded NCRAC project areas are listed in the Appendix.

Table 1. North Central Regional Aquaculture Center funded projects.

Project Area

Project

Number

Proposed Duration Period

Funding Level

Grant Number

Extension

5/1/89-4/30/91

3/17/90-8/31/91

9/1/91-8/31/93

9/1/93-8/31/95

9/1/95-8/31/97

$39,221

$37,089

$31,300

$94,109

$110,129

$10,875

$25,725ADVANCE \d4

$348,448

88-38500-3885

89-38500-4319

91-38500-5900

92-38500-6916

95-38500-1410

Economics and Marketing

5/1/89-12/31/91

9/1/91-8/31/92

9/1/93-8/31/95

$127,338

$34,350

$53,300

$40,000ADVANCE \d4

$254,988

88-38500-3885

89-38500-4319

91-38500-5900

93-38500-8392

Yellow Perch

5/1/89-8/31/91

6/1/90-8/31/92

9/1/91-8/31/93

9/1/93-8/31/95

9/1/95-8/31/97

$76,957

$85,723

$92,108

$99,997

$150,000

$200,000ADVANCE \d4

$704,785

88-38500-3885

89-38500-4319

90-38500-5008

91-38500-5900

93-38500-8392

95-38500-1410

Hybrid Striped Bass

5/1/89-8/31/91

6/1/90-8/31/92

9/1/91-8/31/93

9/1/93-8/31/95

9/1/95-8/31/97

$68,296

$68,114

$101,000

$96,550

$168,000

$160,000ADVANCE \d4

$661,960

88-38500-3885

89-38500-4319

90-38500-5008

91-38500-5900

93-38500-8392

95-38500-1410

Walleye

5/1/89-8/31/91

6/1/90-8/31/92

9/1/91-8/31/92

9/1/92-8/31/93

9/1/93-8/31/95

9/1/95-8/31/97

$177,517

$111,657

$109,223

$75,000

$150,000

$117,897

$57,103ADVANCE \d4

$798,397

89-38500-4319

90-38500-5008

91-38500-5900

89-38500-4319

93-38500-8392

94-38500-0048

95-38500-1410

Sunfish

6/1/90-8/31/92

9/1/92-8/31/94

9/1/94-8/31/96

$130,758

$149,799

$174,999ADVANCE \d4

$455,556

90-38500-5008

92-38500-6916

94-38500-0048

Salmonids

6/1/90-8/31/92

9/1/92-8/31/94

9/1/94-8/31/96

$9,000

$120,799

$149,997

$200,000ADVANCE \d4

$479,796

89-38500-4319

90-38500-5008

92-38500-6916

94-38500-0048

NCR Aquaculture Conference

6/1/90-3/31/91

$7,000

90-38500-5008

National Aqua. Extension Workshop

10/1/91-9/30/92

$3,005

89-38500-4319

Crayfish

9/1/92-8/31/94

$49,677

92-38500-6916

Baitfish

9/1/92-8/31/94

$61,973

92-38500-6916

Wastes/Effluents

9/1/92-8/31/94

$153,300

92-38500-6916

National Aquaculture INAD/NADA Coordinator

9/1/93-8/31/94

5/15/95-5/14/96

5/15/96-5/14/97

$2,000

$5,000

$6,669

$3,331ADVANCE \d4

$17,000

89-38500-4319

94-38500-0048

92-38500-6916

95-38500-1410

PROJECT TERMINATION

PROGRESS REPORTS

EXTENSION[1]

Progress Report for the Period

May 1, 1989 to August 31, 1996

NCRAC FUNDING LEVEL: $328,923 (May 1, 1989 to August 31, 1996)

PARTICIPANTS:

Fred P. Binkowski	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	Wisconsin
James E. Ebeling	Ohio State University	Ohio
Donald L. Garling	Michigan State University	Michigan
Jeffrey L. Gunderson	University of Minnesota	Minnesota
F. Robert Henderson	Kansas State University	Kansas
John Hochheimer	Ohio State University	Ohio
Anne R. Kapuscinski	University of Minnesota	Minnesota
Terrence B. Kayes	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Nebraska
Ronald E. Kinnunen	Michigan State University	Michigan
Christopher C. Kohler	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	Illinois
David J. Landkamer	University of Minnesota	Minnesota
Charles Lee	Kansas State University	Kansas
Joseph E. Morris	Iowa State University	Iowa
Kenneth E. Neils	Kansas State University	Kansas
Robert A. Pierce II	University of Missouri	Missouri
Daniel A. Selock	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	Illinois
LaDon Swann	Purdue University	Indiana/Illinois
*Administrative Advisor:*
David C. Petritz	Purdue University	Indiana

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

(1) Strengthen linkages between North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC) research and extension work groups.

(2) Enhance the North Central Region (NCR) extension network for aquaculture information transfer.

(3) Provide in-service training for Cooperative Extension Service, Sea Grant Advisory Service, and other landowner assistance personnel.

(4) Develop and implement aquaculture educational programs for the NCR.

(5) Develop aquaculture materials for the NCR including extension fact sheets, bulletins, manuals/guides, and instructional video tapes.

ANTICIPATED BENEFITS

The NCRAC Extension Work Group will promote and advance commercial aquaculture in a responsible fashion through an organized education/training outreach program. The primary benefits will be:

· increased public awareness through publications, short courses, and conferences regarding the potential of aquaculture as a viable agricultural enterprise in the NCR;

· technology transfer to enhance current and future production methodologies for selected species, e.g., walleye, hybrid striped bass, yellow perch, salmonids, and sunfish, through hands-on workshops and field demonstration projects;

· improved lines of communication between interstate aquaculture extension specialists and associated industry contacts; and

· an enhanced legal and socioeconomic atmosphere for aquaculture in the NCR.

PROGRESS AND PRINCIPAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

OBJECTIVE 1

Due to the efforts of aquaculture extension personnel in the NCR, NCRAC’s Board of Directors formally adopted guidelines for extension’s involvement in all NCRAC-funded projects. These guidelines integrate research and extension activities so that extension service personnel can better serve their clientele groups.

In addition, aquaculture Extension Work Group members have:

· Served as extension liaisons, if not active researchers, for every funded NCRAC project.

· Assisted in writing and developing the NCRAC Walleye Culture Manual that was edited by Bob Summerfelt of Iowa State University.

· Assisted with the planning, promotion, and implementation of the hybrid striped bass, walleye and yellow perch workshops held throughout the region.

· Helped conduct a survey of crayfish producers in the NCR and completed a report on Orconectes immunis for inclusion in the Crayfish Work Group report.

· Provided the NCRAC Economics and Marketing Work Group with information relevant to that group’s efforts to develop cost of production budgets and expected revenues for the commercial production of food-sized hybrid striped bass, walleye, and yellow perch in the NCR.

· Participated as Steering Committee members for a regional public forum regarding the National Aquaculture Development Plan of 1996.

· Assisted NCRAC in obtaining information on the 1995 status of aquaculture in the NCR. The information will be used to develop NCRAC’s regional aquaculture situation and outlook (S&O) report. Extension specialists often coordinated the effort to develop a cover letter, prepare a mailing list and send the survey out and to follow up to assure a high response rate.

· Conducted educational programs for the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association on non-indigenous aquatic nuisance species and implications for aquaculture as well as participating in the annual meeting of the Great Lakes Fish Health Committee providing input as it relates to aquaculture.

OBJECTIVE 2

The demand for aquaculture extension education programs cannot be met by the few specialists in the NCR (4.0 FTE). Networking of specialists and Cooperative Extension Service (CES) designated contacts has maximized efficiency of education programs and minimized duplication. The NCRAC Extension Project is designed to assess and meet the information needs of the various clientele groups through cooperative and coordinated regional educational programming. In fact, individual state extension contacts often respond to 10-15 calls per month from outside their respective state as well as interacting with colleagues with mutual concerns related to developing aquaculture activities.

Prior to mid-1994 little coordination of international aquaculture information sharing existed. National and international agencies producing information could only be obtained by contacting the respective sources of this information. Also, individual CES personnel relied heavily on information produced by individual states or through regional cooperative projects. As Internet access extended beyond educational institutions and governmental agencies, a clear need developed to utilize the Internet to reach a much broader audience. In the age of an “information overload” the need for a centralized gateway to the ever increasing number of aquaculture resources in electronic format was apparent.

The development of the Aquaculture Information Network Center (AquaNIC) has been instrumental in reaching the public with valuable and timely information. It has been funded, in part, by NCRAC and has currently over 4,000 contacts per month from more than 50 countries to this web site. AquaNIC receives direction from a national steering committee from public and private sector aquaculture. AquaNIC began on a Gopher Server in July 1994 and moved to a World Wide Web server in January 1996. AquaNIC (www.ansc.purdue.edu/aquanic/) houses more than 1,650 extension publications, governmental documents, image files, comprehensive e-mail lists, newsletters, calendars, job announcements, and résumés. In addition, AquaNIC has 190 pointers to other aquaculture and fisheries related web sites. Ongoing promotional campaigns through mouse pads and access information cards has increased the level of awareness of this new resource available to the world aquaculture industry. It is the gateway to the world’s electronic resources in aquaculture including the Regional Aquaculture Centers.

AquaNIC also serves as the home of NCRAC’s web site (www.ansc.purdue.edu/aquanic/ncrac) which was developed in conjunction with NCRAC administrative staff and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program. The web site provides electronic versions of NCRAC extension publications, directories, operations manuals and newsletters.

Aquaculture handbooks have been developed and distributed to each NCRAC designated aquaculture extension specialist and selected CES and Sea Grant field staff member.

As with any organization, there have been changes in NCRAC extension personnel since the inception of the project. Landkamer was the primary aquaculture extension contact for Minnesota. However, he left the university and Kapuscinski became the primary contact person until 1992 when Gunderson assumed that responsibility. In 1994 there were two changes: in Kansas, Neils replaced Henderson and in Illinois, Kohler replaced Selock. There continues to be changes in NCRAC extension personnel since the inception of the project; Hochheimer has replaced Ebeling in Ohio while Lee replaced Neils in Kansas in 1996.

OBJECTIVE 3

In-service training for CES and Sea Grant personnel and other landowner assistance personnel have been held in most of the states in the region. T

COMPENDIUM REPORT

August 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS