Vol. XXV, No. 8
August 2005
Thanks to nearly a decade of perseverance by Alaska Sea Grant aquaculture specialist Ray RaLonde to improve funding for research and development of Alaska shellfish and salmon enhancement, aquaculture will be included in the Alaska statewide agriculture plan. That will give Alaska aquaculture researchers access to much needed, higher levels of financial support.
RaLonde considers it a major success that was a long time coming. In the late 1990s RaLonde compiled for USDA numerous data sets on aquaculture/hatchery production and harvest sales, to redefine aquaculture as agriculture. In 1999 he finally found the right combination—USDA agreed that the salmon harvest sales that recover hatchery costs could be defined as agriculture income, since the harvest is dedicated to the hatchery operation. The USDA Alaska Agricultural Statistics Service now includes the cost recovery of salmon as part of the state livestock production. Surprisingly, the combination of salmon cost recovery and shellfish mariculture makes aquaculture the number one agriculture commodity produced in Alaska.
But it took another six years for the "aquaculture as agriculture" issue to gain threshold visibility. During a February 2005 meeting that convened all the Alaska hatchery operators in Anchorage, RaLonde and Sea Grant director Brian Allee orchestrated the creation of a research and development plan, to be presented to Alaska Division of Agriculture, USDA, and other funding organizations. "Uniting" the operators of the hatcheries, which are all run by separate private nonprofits, provided an opportunity for the operators to set new directions for their hatcheries.
Within a few months after the R&D plan was drawn up, Carol Lewis, Dean of the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, invited RaLonde and Allee of Sea Grant, and Bill Hall of Alaska Cooperative Extension, to write an aquaculture plan for the Alaska statewide agriculture plan.
RaLonde cites support by the current state administration, Alaska Sea Grant's involvement in the hatchery R&D meeting, and efforts by Alaska Cooperative Extension as essential in arriving at the statewide planning stage. "I think we are finally noticed and my hope is that we can be a major contributor to the future of agriculture in Alaska and be recognized as a legitimate candidate for funding," says RaLonde.
SFOS faculty member Bill Smoker received the first major grant for salmon enhancement through the USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES). Smoker has been a strong and vocal partner in the effort to enhance the Alaska aquaculture industry through expanded research.
Alaska Sea Grant highlighted Alaska shellfish by serving Alaska-grown oysters to 400 people at the Red, White and Blue Garden Party in Fairbanks, August 4, at Pioneer Park.
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens greeted guests at the annual event for military officers and their families, Fairbanks residents, and local, state, and national officials. MAP aquaculture specialist Ray RaLonde, with Sea Grant staff Adie Callahan, Sherri Pristash, Jen Gunderson, Kathy Kurtenbach, and Melissa Tyson, shucked and cooked oysters and talked about the economic value of the shellfish industry. Kurt Byers photographed the event. The 650 oysters were from Kachemak Bay and Metlakatla. Bill Williams and Jeff Moran, from the Metlakatla Tribal Council, were present to talk about the successful oyster and clam aquaculture farms on Annette Island.
Alaska Sea Grant hosted a booth at the well-attended Alaska Oceans Festival in Anchorage, July 16, where we held a mini ocean science bowl competition and promoted educational products. Kathy Kurtenbach, Liz Brown, Julie Carpenter, and Beverly Bradley worked at the booth. Of several books and videos on display, the new Gulf of Alaska: Biology and Oceanography book was the top seller.
Doug Schneider's news release on IMS researcher Hector Douglas's work, on the natural mosquito repellent of crested auklets, was picked up by CBC Whitehorse, the FairbanksDaily News Miner, and the Nome Nugget. APRN, the Anchorage Daily News, and others published stories on the release about Kate Wynne freeing a humpback whale near Kodiak, and the release on SFOS researchers who discovered new marine species in the Arctic Ocean during an expedition funded by the NOAA Ocean Explorer Program.
Kate Wynne, MAP marine mammal specialist, led seven UAF researchers in the rescue of a young humpback whale that was entangled in commercial crab fishing lines near Kodiak, in late July. Using boats, poles, and knives the team spent five hours maneuvering and cutting the lines. The 20-foot whale finally swam away when the team cut the two commercial fishing buoys it had been dragging. Wynne is one of the few individuals in Alaska authorized by NMFS to disentangle marine mammals.
The University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) is selecting several Alaska Sea Grant Arctic Science Journeys Radio stories to use for teaching English as a second language. Project organizers will make the stories available through a new Web-based outreach program for K-12 and college students who are learning English. The ASJ stories were chosen because they are "clear, concise, and presented in a conversational style that is easily understood by people learning English," according to CARLA staff.
Terry Johnson published the summer 2005 issue of Charter Log (http://www.uaf.edu/map/charterlog/).
In June MAP agents Terry Reeve and Don Kramer traveled to four villages on the lower Yukon to give salmon quality workshops, in partnership with the Yukon River Drainage Fishermen's Association.
Chuck Crapo conducted "Just in Time" training workshops for seafood processors and fishermen, in ten coastal towns, funded in part by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Sunny Rice was interviewed on Alaska statewide radio and Earthwatch radio, a nationally syndicated show produced by Wisconsin Sea Grant, about streamer use by longliners to reduce seabird bycatch.
Reid Brewer organized a Forum of Alaska Marine Issues lecture on "Auklet Research in the Aleutian Islands" and published an article in the Dutch Harbor Fisherman titled "Longnose Lancetfish in Alaskan Waters." Brewer also held the Tidepool Posse marine education camp for children in Unalaska, and led a discussion at a recent Alaska Ocean Observing System workshop in Cordova.
Kate Wynne was the invited plenary speaker at the Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine annual meeting, in Seward. Her talk was "GAP: an ecosystem approach to addressing Steller sea lion declines."
Unalaska MAP agent Reid Brewer has organized the Aleutian Life Forum (ALF) conference scheduled for August 16-20. The conference will present three days of speakers and a community festival, with the purpose of determining lessons learned after the Selendang Ayu oil spill. Topics include the effects of oil spills on wildlife, fisheries, and communities.
Among speakers are UAA economics professor Gunnar Knapp; MAP agent Dolly Garza, speaking on subsistence; Molly McCammon, AOOS director; and Robert Hallinen, Anchorage Daily News. Kurt Byers will show Alaska Sea Grant's Ocean Fury, and talk about the video, at the Alaska Ocean Film Festival during ALF. For more information on the conference see http://www.aleutianlifeforum.org/.
The National Fisheries Institute announces a request for proposals for the Fisheries Scholarship Fund. FSF supports the growth of the seafood industry and seafood consumer health through sponsorship of research and training of graduate students. Proposals are due by September 8, 2005. For information contact Roy Martin at remtec@atlantic.net, (352) 666-5646.