The Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA) and the Aquaculture Interchange Program (AIP) at OI continue to support aquaculture development in a region extending from Hawaii to American Samoa, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Palau (CTSA), and the United States (AIP).

Currently, CTSA provides funding to support research addressing issues ranging from the culture of edible species, such as kahala, tilapia, and moi, to ornamental fish, biosecurity, and a national conference on aquaculture extension.

The CTSA quarterly newsletter, Regional Notes, is a great way to keep informed about aquaculture in the region. Regular features of Regional Notes include announcements of upcoming aquaculture conferences, “Aqua Clips” from a variety of news sources in Hawai‘i, and updates on aquaculture, “Around the Pacific.” Recent issues report on production of pearls in Pohnpei, recent advances in aquaculture in American Samoa, and CTSA-funded projects in Hawai‘i on intensive microalgae production, and ways to generate income from waste materials such as shrimp heads. Be sure to also check out other CTSA publications at www.ctsa.org and http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/praise/index.html for more information about regional aquaculture.
Through information exchange at international workshops and publication of the workshop proceedings, AIP, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), promotes the development of the U.S. aquaculture industry.

Hawai‘i claimed the spotlight at the most recent AIP workshop, “Open Ocean Aquaculture—Moving Forward,” because of its status as the first state with commercial-scale offshore aquaculture (for kahala and moi). With wild stocks declining and suitable sites for aquaculture in coastal areas becoming increasingly scarce, the open ocean holds great potential for meeting future demands for these local favorites and other finfish species. Experts from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. mainland also shared their experiences with offshore aquaculture and discussed the challenges to its further development.

The next workshop, “Improving Seafood Quality through Aquaculture,” will be held Oct. 22-24, at the East-West Center in Honolulu. Proceedings of the AIP workshops continue to be a source of valuable information to the aquaculture community. Fourteen of the 25 most downloaded articles of the journal Aquacultural Engineering were papers presented at AIP’s workshop on biological filters. Forthcoming this year are proceedings of the 2005 AIP workshops on Aquaculture and Ecosystems and the Socioeconomic Aspects of Species and System Selection for Sustainable Aquaculture.

For more information about AIP, visit our Web site at http://oceanicinstitute.org/research/aipprogram.html.

For information about volunteer and internship opportunities at Oceanic Institute, contact Gary Karr, director of education, at 259-3146 or via e-mail at gkarr@oceanicinstitute.org.