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Primed for Expansion

NIFA awards almost $1M to CTAHR’s Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture

  • 1 September 2020
  • Author: Mark Berthold
  • Number of views: 3205
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Primed for Expansion

Can aquaculture help repair Hawaiʻi’s economy and contribute to our food security? Will the same solutions work for island nations across the Pacific Basin? What projects could potentially improve our international competitiveness in aquaculture?

Equipped with a new four-year, $924,280 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Dr. Cheng Sheng Lee may find the answers.

“Our task is to enhance viable and profitable aquaculture development in Hawaiʻi and U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia,” says the Executive Director of the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA), under the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food & Animal Sciences.

“First, we’ll work with industry to identify the bottlenecks for further expansion of food production from our water resources. Then, we’ll identify research teams to tackle the issue and provide solutions to industry to improve their operations.”

NIFA’s Regional Aquaculture Centers support aquaculture research, development, demonstration, and extension education to enhance viable and profitable U.S. aquaculture which will benefit consumers, producers, service industries, and the American economy. The CTSA, which is jointly administered by CTAHR and the Oceanic Institute of Hawaii Pacific University, supports research and extension activities that develop and transfer new and adapted technology to industry in Hawaiʻi and the American Insular Pacific. Each project is reviewed by a panel of experts to ensure its approach is scientifically sound and its results will directly or indirectly enhance economic opportunities for aquaculture producers in the CTSA region.

“We are looking forward to working with our industry and researcher to contribute to our food security and economy in Hawaii and the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands,” says Cheng-Sheng.

In other CTSA news, the August 2020 newsletter discusses the need for food security, and how opihi farming can meet local demand while avoiding picking tragedies from happening.

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