Gulf of Mexico Oyster Aquaculture Small Grants Program The GSMFC, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The GSMFC, working with the NOAA Office of Aquaculture, provided about $370,000 in funding for six competitive projects beginning in January 2017. The one year projects cover a variety of issues related to oyster aquaculture in the Gulf region. While cage culture and off-bottom culture of oysters has been used in the Northwest and Northeast U.S. for years, the methods need to be adapted to local physical and water quality conditions in the Gulf. As wild harvest recovers in the Gulf, cage culture production of oysters has the potential to complement wild harvest, diversity the region’s seafood products, and help maintain local processing and working waterfront facilities.

Gulf of Mexico Oyster Aquaculture Small Grants Program

FY2017 Gulf of Mexico Oyster Aquaculture Small Grants

Applicant Title Principle Investigator(s) Project Cost

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium Advancing the Gulf of Mexico Shellfish Initiative (GoMexSI) Bill Walton, LaDon Swann, John Supan, Leslie Sturmer $107,970 University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation Initiation of a Program to Produce Florida Tetraploid Founder Stocks for the Gulf Oyster Industry Huiping Yang $73,308 Alma Bryant High School Development and Operation of a Mobile Oyster Spawning System Julian Stewart, Eric Stewart $37,872 Alabama Marine Resources Division State of Alabama Oyster Aquaculture Permitting and Informational Website Development Chris Blankenship, Russell Rigby, Bill Walton $44,917 Auburn University Increasing Oyster Production in the Gulf of Mexico: Adopting High-Density Larval Culture at the Auburn University Shellfish Lab Bill Walton, Scott Rikard, John Supan $73,575 Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi Identifying Information Needs and Regulatory Impediments to Off-Bottom Oyster Culture in Texas John Scarpa $33,635

• Advancing the Gulf of Mexico Shellfish Initiative (GoMexSI)
• This project will provide a platform to avoid and/or resolve user conflicts related to
• yster aquaculture, while also promoting coordination of off-bottom (and on-bottom)
• yster aquaculture with other oyster restoration efforts
• Initiation of a Program to Produce Florida Tetraploid Founder Stocks for the

Gulf Oyster Industry

• This project is to initiate a program for producing patent-free Florida tetraploid

founder stocks to meet the needs of the fast-growing oyster farming industry in the Gulf region

• Development and Operation of a Mobile Oyster Spawning System
• This project intends to produce additional oyster larvae to meet the current and

future needs of the developing off-bottom oyster farming industry in the area.

• State of Alabama Oyster Aquaculture Permitting and Informational Website

Development

• This project is to develop and maintain a comprehensive oyster aquaculture permitting

and informational website to assist current and potential oyster aquaculture farmers with siting, permitting, coordination, and contact with regulatory agencies to increase efficiencies and to facilitate increased investment in oyster aquaculture in Alabama

• Increasing Oyster Production in the Gulf of Mexico: Adopting High-Density

Larval Culture at the Auburn University Shellfish Lab

• This project addresses the challenge of current and future demand for oyster larvae and

seed in the region by adopting high-density larval culture at the Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory.

• Identifying Information Needs and Regulatory Impediments to Off-Bottom

Oyster Culture in Texas

• This project will identify and report information needs and regulatory impediments

along with potential solutions for these information needs and regulatory impediments to allow off-bottom oyster culture in Texas.

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