February 27-March 1, 2009

The Board of Directors, the Industry Advisory Council (IAC), the Technical Committee (TC), administrative staff of the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC), and other guests met at the Hilton Kansas City Airport, Kansas City, Missouri from Friday through Sunday, February 27-March 1, 2009. Friday evening, February 27, NCRAC people were invited to attend a reception hosted by the Missouri Aquaculture Association which followed a 2-day meeting of the Regional Aquaculture Extension Team (RAET), a group Fred Binkowski had organized as part of his component of the ongoing Base Extension project, and others that Chris Weeks had invited in his role as the Regional Aquaculture Extension Specialist. Their meeting discussed Marketing and Extension issues.

On Friday afternoon, February 27, the NCRAC Board made decisions concerning projects that had been developed since the last NCRAC Annual Program Planning Meeting held in Indianapolis, Indiana in February 2008: (1) Drug Approval Research on 17a-methyltestosterone (MT); (2) Comparison, Identification, and Role of Microbial Communities in Recirculating Systems in the North Central Region; (3) Rapid Determination of Amino Acid Requirements of Yellow Perch and Tilapia; (4) Regional Aquaculture Extension Specialist (RAES); and (5) a Base Extension project.
All projects were approved by the Board at the funding levels requested and would be revised addressing any concerns that had been raised by peer reviewers, Project Review Committees, or the Board before being submitted in a Plan of Work (POW) or an Amendment to a POW to USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) for their approval. The anticipated starting date for the projects, if approved by CSREES, will be September 1, 2009.
The Drug Approval Research on MT will be undertaken by a work group consisting of Mark Gaikowski at the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Ashok Marwah at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Nilmini Wijewickreme of the Food Safety Division at Can Test Ltd., and David Straus at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center. The 1-year project has two components, the objectives for which are as follows:

Component #1:
(1) Develop study protocols to conduct the MT feed method transfer of the MT analytical feed method based on CVM Guideline for Industry #136, the CVM letter of May 25, 2001 to Rangen, Inc., and consultation with CVM's Biotherapeutics.
(2) Submit method transfer study protocols to CVM for concurrence. (3) Provide final study protocols to participating laboratories.
(4) Prepare and ship medicated feed to participating laboratories.
(5) Assay control and medicated feed samples according to the CVM concurred study protocols.
(6) Complete report of analysis and submit along with raw data to UMESC.
(7) Compare and discuss the results of UW-M and CANTEST, Ltd. analyses of the MT transfer study samples.
(8) Determine whether any changes are needed to the MT analytical feed method based on the results of the MT feed transfer study.
(9) Validate that CANTEST, Ltd. can analyze the MT feed samples according to the analytical feed method developed by the reference laboratory (i.e., UW-M).
(10) Compile final study report (FSR), archive raw data, and submit FSR to CVM through the UMESC MT INAD.
(11) Respond to CVM comments.
(12) Gain acceptance from CVM for the MT feed method transfer study.

Component #2: Repeat of the 17"-methyltestosterone target animal safety study in tilapia
(1) Interact with CVM to determine whether the study design and protocol developed by SIUC will need to be modified.
(2) Submit the revised study protocol to CVM for concurrence.
(3) Conduct a target animal safety study using MT on tilapia according to the CVM concurred protocol that is based on the guidelines for a target animal safety study in feed under GLP.
(4) Write the Final Study Report and submit to CVM through the AADAP MT INAD.
(5) Respond to CVM comments.
(6) Gain acceptance from CVM for the target animal safety study on MT in tilapia.

The Comparison, Identification, and Role of Microbial Communities in Recirculating Systems in the North Central Region will be undertaken by a work group consisting of Lutgarde Raskin and Jim Diana at the University of Michigan, Aurelio Rocky Briones of the University of Idaho (formerly at the University of Michigan), and Russell Cuhel and Carmen Aguilar at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The objectives of that 1-year project are as follows:
(1) Characterize the microbial communities in established production scale marine and freshwater recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) units. These systems have been operational and producing aquatic organisms for more than one year.
(2) Once these microbial communities have been identified, the role(s) of these microbial communities within the nitrogen cycle will be quantified with the goal of increasing the efficiency of the RAS (increased survival, growth and density, etc. of aquatic organisms).
(3) Coordinate the results of this project with the Technical Committee Extension Subcommittee of NCRAC.

The Rapid Determination of Amino Acid Requirements of Yellow Perch and Tilapia project will be undertaken by Rob Hayward with Jeffre Firman and Kartnik Masagounder at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The objectives of that 2-year project are as follows:
(1) Conduct a full literature search on amino acid composition, amino acid requirements, and feed formulations for yellow perch and Nile tilapia.
(2) Evaluate body amino acid composition of yellow perch and Nile tilapia.
(3) Evaluate limiting amino acid requirements of yellow perch and Nile tilapia.
(4) Evaluate amino acid availability of dietary ingredients for yellow perch and Nile tilapia.
(5) Develop a least-cost diet formulation model available to the NCR aquaculture industry within a two-year period for yellow perch and Nile tilapia
(6) Coordinate findings from this study with the Technical Committee Extension Subcommittee of NCRAC.

The Regional Aquaculture Extension Specialist (RAES) project will be undertaken by Chris Weeks at Michigan State University. The objectives of that 2-year project are as follows:
(1) In conjunction with the NCRAC Industry Advisory Council and state aquaculture extension contacts, assess and prioritize North Central Region (NCR) industry needs, focusing on issues with regional significance.
(2) Develop and implement strategies to address pertinent needs, interact with pertinent NCRAC and non-NCRAC aquaculture initiatives to accomplish identified strategies.
(3) Develop and facilitate linkages among agencies, industry, academia, and other relevant entities to foster open, meaningful dialog on critical NCR issues.
(4) Coordinate efforts for seeking non-NCRAC support to facilitate information and technology transfer to the industry.>BR>

The ABase@ Extension project will be chaired by Joe Morris at Iowa State University. The three objectives of that project are as follows:
(1) Strengthen linkages between North Central Regional Aquaculture Center (NCRAC) Research and Extension Work Groups.
(2) Enhance the NCRAC extension network for aquaculture information transfer.
(3) Develop and implement aquaculture educational programs and materials for the North Central Region (NCR).

Oral presentations were made Saturday morning by a variety of speakers on a number of topics which are listed below.
NCRAC Update - Ted Batterson
Status Reports
Regional Aquaculture Extension Specialist - Chris Weeks
Baitfish - Jeff Gunderson
Aquaculture Drugs - Roz Schnick
Other NCRAC-funded Activities
(Largemouth Bass Nutrition; Feed Training Carnivorous Fish; Snail Management/Grub Control) - Joe Morris
Non-NCRAC Federally-funded Ohio Aquaculture - Hanping Wang & Geoff Wallat (Ohio State) and Ted Batterson for Carol Stepien (University of Toledo)
Non-NCRAC Federally-funded Wisconsin Aquaculture - Chris Hartleb (CSREES) and Brian Shepherd (ARS)
USDA/CSREES Update - Ted Batterson for Gary Jensen, National Program Leader for Aquaculture

Saturday evening the Board approved and set maximum funding levels for several different activities/projects based on a prioritized list that had been presented late Saturday afternoon by the IAC. The Board=s decisions were conveyed to everyone Sunday morning. They were as follows:
(1) Up to $150,000 for a 3-year project on the determination of production parameters of genetically-improved yellow perch lines at commercial densities in ponds at two or more facilities in the North Central Region
(2) Up to $150,000 for a 1-year project to evaluate newly-developed, least-cost experimental diets for bluegill at commercial densities in ponds at two or more facilities in the North Central Region
(3) Up to $100,000 to market fish as a healthy food in local/niche markets but with specifics as to what is to be undertaken to be determined after the Annual Program Planning Meeting. That effort will be led by Joe Morris, Jerry Miller, Rex Ostrum, and possibly others. That group will report back to the Board for their feedback before moving forward with a Call for Statements of Interest.

The yellow perch and bluegill projects will be targeted to begin September 1, 2010 after the fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) monies have been received by the Center. It is anticipated that the FY2010 monies will be awarded to the Center on June 1, 2010.

On Sunday morning the IAC and TC worked on the development of problem statements and objectives for the yellow perch assessment and bluegill diet verification projects and identified the 6-member Project Review Committees for each of those projects.

Problem statements, objectives, and Project Review Committee members are as follows:
Yellow Perch Assessment Problem Statement: The yellow perch industry in the North Central Region (NCR) desires development of genetically-improved brood stock lines that provide significant growth enhancement so that time to market size is reduced. Recent NCR research has now produced such yellow perch lines yielding growth improvement of up to 40%. However, this research has been done in very controlled, small experimental systems. Commercial-scale, on-farm production studies are needed to validate that this improvement can be maintained at commercial densities.

Objectives:
1. Using consistent protocols, assess survival and growth rate of two replications of first-year fingerlings of improved lines of yellow perch as compared to fingerlings from local brood stock (feed-trained fingerlings to be stocked at 60,000/acre).
2. Using consistent protocols, assess 2nd year survival, growth rate, and market parameters (production, fillet yields, percent market size) of both replications of improved lines of yellow perch as compared to local fish.
3. Disseminate results to industry and to end-user customers via fact sheets, scientific publications, and an on-farm field day.

Project Review Committee: Bob Baldwin (IAC), Denny Bauer (TC), Jim Blankman (IAC), Mike Brown (TC), Rich Clayton (TC), Bill West (IAC)

Bluegill Diet Verification Problem Statement: Feed costs often represent >50% of variable costs in modern aquaculture facilities. Hence a need exists to develop effective lower-cost diets for key species in the North Central Region (NCR), including bluegill. On-going NCR research is directed toward the development of an open-formula diet for bluegill and, once formulated, should be evaluated by comparing its performance against an industry standard diet in a commercial production pond setting.

Objectives:
1. Using as consistent protocols as possible across locations, evaluate/determine performance of recently-developed NCRAC least-cost juvenile (3 minimum length) bluegill diet versus an industry standard diet at two distinct latitude locations at standard pond stocking densities for one growing season. Stocking densities to be determined by the investigator(s) and producer(s).
2. Coordinate dissemination of project results with the NCRAC Technical Committee/Extension Subcommittee.

Project Review Committee: Fred Binkowski (TC), Myles Harston (IAC), Bill Lynch (IAC), Paula Moore (IAC), Dean Rosenthal (TC), Hanping Wang (TC)