Gulf of Mexico Oyster Aquaculture Small Grants Program 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.
FY2017 Gulf of Mexico Oyster Aquaculture Small Grants Principle Project Applicant Title Investigator(s) Cost Mississippi-Alabama Sea Advancing the Gulf of Mexico Shellfish Initiative Bill Walton, LaDon Swann, John $107,970 Grant Consortium (GoMexSI) Supan, Leslie Sturmer University of Florida, School of Forest Initiation of a Program to Produce Florida Tetraploid Huiping Yang $73,308 Resources and Founder Stocks for the Gulf Oyster Industry Conservation Alma Bryant Development and Operation of a Mobile Oyster Julian Stewart, Eric Stewart $37,872 High School Spawning System Alabama Marine State of Alabama Oyster Aquaculture Permitting and Chris Blankenship, Russell Rigby, $44,917 Resources Division Informational Website Development Bill Walton Increasing Oyster Production in the Gulf of Mexico: Bill Walton, Scott Rikard, John Auburn University Adopting High-Density Larval Culture at the Auburn $73,575 Supan University Shellfish Lab Texas A&M University at Identifying Information Needs and Regulatory John Scarpa $33,635 Corpus Christi Impediments to Off-Bottom Oyster Culture in Texas
• Advancing the Gulf of Mexico Shellfish Initiative (GoMexSI) • This project will provide a platform to avoid and/or resolve user conflicts related to oyster aquaculture, while also promoting coordination of off-bottom (and on-bottom) oyster 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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