2012 Projects
Alaska | Arizona | California | Colorado | Hawaii | Micronesia | Montana | New Mexico | Northern Marianas Islands | Oregon | Utah | Washington
Producer Grant: FW12-046, “Monitoring Impacts of High Tunnels on Growing Conditions and Season Extension in Southcentral Alaska,” Principal Investigator: Rachel Lord, Alaska, rachel.e.lord@gmail.com; $19,615.
This area of Southcentral Alaska is at the literal “end of the road,” and it is important to increase food security through development of local sustainable agricultural opportunities. The NRCS High Tunnel Program is providing local producers with an opportunity to maximize production and extend the short growing season. High tunnels are generally thought to add two to four weeks to a growing season; however, there has been little research done in coastal Alaska to better understand this assumption. The project team will increase the utility of high tunnels for the management and maximization of the growing season and for season extension in this region of Alaska through the collection, analysis, distribution and community discussion of soil temperature, air temperature and relative humidity data.
Producer Grant: FW12-068, “On-Farm Pollinator Habitat Restoration,” Principal Investigator: Gary Nabhan, Arizona, gpnabhan@email.arizona.edu; $25,000.
The PI proposes an on-farm habitat restoration and enhancement initiative for native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. This area of southern Arizona is one of the worst hit by the combination of honeybee colony collapse, Africanized bee removal, parasitic mite infestation and climate change-triggered drought of any landscape in North America. At the same time, it is in a landscape that is considered the most diverse in native pollinators of any in the U.S. Three farms will initially be included to sustain or recover these native pollinators, and training workshops will recruit other producer participants. The goal for this project is to pilot effective on-farm strategies to recover, sustain and stabilize the pollinator services of native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds for small- and medium-scale orchards in the face of honeybee declines and climate change.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-010, “Production, Milling and Marketing of Arid-Adapted Heritage Grains in the Desert Borderlands to Increase Food Security,” Principal Investigator: Chris Schmidt, Arizona, cschmidt@nativeseeds.org, $49,950.
Cereal grains are the dietary foundations for most people in the United States. Despite this, local production and processing of regionally-adapted cereal grains is a missing element in the efforts of most Western communities to increase their food security and offer staples to low-income populations at risk of hunger. Therefore, a collaborative effort has been initiated among small-scale producers, food banks, millers, chefs and professional agricultural researchers to advance the market recovery of two arid- adapted and historically-important grains of this region, White Sonora wheat and Chapalote corn. Both suffered declines in cultivation as water- and fertilizer- responsive varieties took precedence in irrigated agriculture in the Southwest. The project aims to revive the production, milling, distribution and marketing of the oldest extant grain varieties adapted to the arid Southwest.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-008, “Water Management in Sonoma County Grape Production,” Principal Investigator: Nick Frey, California, frey@sonomawinegrape.org, $49,200.
Despite naturally high levels of winter rainfall, water is a scarce resource in Sonoma County, and competition from various interests has increasingly become contentious. In order to preserve grape growing in Sonoma County, meet regulations and protect threatened and endangered salmonids, growers need to improve water use efficiency for both frost protection and irrigation. The project will include outreach to growers, including a spring frost workshop, and provide guidance for optimal decision-making for frost protection operation. The PI will also conduct an objective evaluation of selected materials in a vineyard that do not use overhead sprinklers for frost protection. The goal is to determine the efficacy of these materials, especially materials that do not contain copper in order to reduce copper use in the watershed. Lastly, the team will work with growers to fine-tune their irrigation based on soil and plant water status data, vine observations and overall strategies for winegrape production.
Research and Education Grant: SW12-110, “The Interaction of Rangeland Management and Environmental Conditions in Regulating Forage Quality & Quantity and Other Ecosystem Services,” Principal Investigator: Valerie Eviner, California, veviner@ucdavis.edu, $265,414.
California’s range managers have repeatedly identified two key research priorities: (1) management for multiple goals, and (2) site-specific recommendations. The most effective approach to address these priorities is to learn from hundreds of on-the-ground management trials underway in rangelands across California’s diverse climate, soil and topographical conditions. Bringing together results from rancher trials allows the pulling apart of how yearly weather and site-specific conditions impact forage production and the delivery of ecosystem services. This, in turn, will help managers develop site- specific recommendations based on management goals and plan for droughts, high rainfall years and future climate change. A created searchable database and decision support tool will enable managers to improve the effectiveness of their practices. As these improved practices are entered into the database, they will further improve the site-specific recommendations and maps provided by the decision support tool.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-017, “Training Manuals and Professional Development Activities for Teaching Organic Farming and Marketing, Principal Investigator: Jonathon Landeck, California, jlandeck@ucsc.edu, $98,782.
There is a growing need for resources and training to help organic and sustainable growers better produce and market their crops. One key to addressing this need is to improve agricultural education and extension professionals' knowledge, skills, and ability to effectively educate farmers interested in sustainable agriculture. The project team will revise and update proven teaching tools, disseminate them as free online resources and create new trainings for extension personnel and other agriculture educators in using these instructional materials. This project will build on a landmark curriculum development project CASFS undertook between 2001 and 2005 that resulted in the publication of their two teaching manuals: Teaching Organic Farmers & Gardeners: Resources for Instructors (2003) and Teaching Direct Marketing and Small Farm Viability: Resources for Instructors (2005).
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-033, “Farming Strategies for Coping with Climate Change,” Principal Investigator: Renata Brillinger, California, renata@calclimateag.org, $19,000.
Through a series of workshops and farm tours, webinars, video seminars and written materials, the PI will strive to deepen the understanding of climate change and the role of sustainable agriculture in providing climate benefits (both mitigation and adaptation) among California agricultural professionals, primarily NRCS staff, and secondarily Cooperative Extension and Resource Conservation District staff. This project will build upon the lessons learned in a project previously funded by SARE in 2009, incorporate feedback from participants in that project as well as the Planning Committee, and integrate new research. The demand for this information was apparent during the initial project.
Producer Grant: FW12-076, “Development of a Digitally Integrated, Low-cost Farm-to-Consumer Product Tracking System for Small-scale Farmers and Grower Networks,” Principal Investigator: Brett KenCairn, Colorado, bkencairn@me.com, $24,965.
The development of a low-cost product tracking system is an integral element in a broader strategy to create access for small farmers to larger regional/national fresh food retailers. Such a system has several important potential advantages for producers, retailers and consumers. This study is designed to evaluate a series of low-cost product tracking systems that can be easily and efficiently implemented on a small-farm scale and to provide recommendations to producers in evaluating options and implementation strategies. As part of the study, a pilot project will be implemented with a major regional food retailer, Whole Foods, to test the tracking system using the three participating producers.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-009, “Integrating Birds in Range Management Across the Sagebrush Steppe,” Principal Investigator: Laura Quattrini, Colorado, laura.quattrini@rmbo.org, $60,000.
There is a need and desire from landowners, Extension educators and other resource professionals to learn more about wildlife habitat and how to use birds as indicators of habitat health. This project proposal is part of a larger Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) grouse recovery strategy and follows suggestions from peer reviewed papers. The project team will develop a sagebrush manual and implement four two-day training sessions to teach resource professionals and landowners how to use birds as indicators of sagebrush condition and how to use the RBMO’s decision support tool to guide sound management practices.
Producer Grant: FW12-034, “Grapes for Tropical Hawaii,” Principal Investigator: Ken Love, Hawaii, ken@mycoffee.net; $17,370.
In 2008, more than 9.1 million pounds of grapes were imported into Hawaii, which offers a considerable opportunity for growers in the state to replace the imports with locally grown. This project proposes, with the help of the USDA germplasm repository in Davis CA, to test as many as six varieties, including Isabella and others, that grape specialists feel have a chance to perform in tropical lower elevations in Hawaii. The two-year project will establish rooted varieties in a number of lower elevations on different islands. The project PI also plans to plant the selected varieties at a University of Hawaii Experiment station in order to insure the future of equitable germplasm distribution to all growers. The market and requests for locally grown fruits not currently grown on Hawaii, such as grapes, are continually increasing.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-041, “Effectiveness of Beauveria Bassiana on Coffee Berry Borer in Different Agroclimatic Zones,” Principal Investigator: Elsie Burbano, Hawaii, eburbano@hawaii.edu, $49,403.
The coffee berry borer is the most economically important coffee pest worldwide due to the extensive destruction that they inflict on the coffee seed. The coffee berry borer is now reported in many areas on the Island of Hawaii, severely impacting farms and mill operators. Management techniques are limited, and there is urgency for a strategic plan to reduce populations. The insect-pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is the only commercial pesticide product available to manage the coffee berry borer in Hawaii. In Hawaii, B. bassiana is sprayed on a calendar basis, without any science-based data upon which to base decisions to make applications. The project’s objectives are: a) determine the appropriate dosage, b) the time of application of B. bassiana in relation to the phenology of the coffee berry and elevation (correlated with temperature) and c) develop extension materials describing the use of B. bassiana in coffee farms located at different elevations.
Research and Education Grant: SW12-040, “Low-input Integrated Management of Tomato Viruses in Hawaii,” Principal Investigator: Mark Wright, Hawaii, markwrig@hawaii.edu, $297,296.
Tomato varieties resistant to the major pathogen in Hawaii, Tomato spotted wilt virus, have been used extensively by the tomato industry. The recent advent of Tomato yellow curl virus in Hawaii has set the tomato industry back to depending extensively on insecticides for virus vector management. There are currently no varieties with dual resistance to these viruses available for commercial production in Hawaii. This project will address this problem through screening tomato varieties with putative dual resistance, to confirm resistance and to determine their desirability for the local industry. The PI will also consider integrated management options for virus vector suppression. A combination of tolerance or resistance with low-input insect suppression techniques will provide an effective and valuable tool that will enable farmers to continue producing tomatoes in Hawaii without depending upon only a single management technique for virus and vector management.
Research and Education Grant: SW12-114, “Secondary Effects of Behavior-based Pasture Management,” Principal Investigator: Matthew Stevenson, Hawaii, stevenso@hawaii.edu, $37,125.
To improve the understanding of how conditioning livestock behavior to meet ranch objectives affects pasture use, this project will track livestock via GPS collars, assess internal parasite infection of trained livestock and monitor forage quality on ranches in Hawaii implementing behavior-based management approaches. The project team hypothesizes that animals trained to eat weeds will select plants that have anthelmintic properties and use those plants relative to parasite burden. Pasture weeds hamper Hawaii ranchers’ profitability by reducing the amount of useable forage and imposing high management costs. To reduce or eliminate expensive inputs such as herbicide application, some cattle ranchers are turning to multi-species grazing to leverage differences in foraging preferences to control weeds. The secondary effects of directly modifying animal behavior on landscape-level pasture use have not been described in the tropics and have received nominal attention elsewhere.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-044, “Best Management Practices for Livestock Protection Dogs,” Principal Investigator: Jeff Mosley, Montana, jmosley@montana.edu, $49,998.
Widespread use of livestock protection dogs (LPD) to limit livestock depredation by wild predators in the Western U.S. began in the latter 1970s, and the strategies were found effective. Little research has occurred with LPDs since the 1980s, but the situation in the region has changed dramatically, providing new challenges. Two of the biggest changes have been the expansion of: 1) large carnivore predator populations, and 2) human recreation and exurban residential development on forest and rangeland landscapes. These two changes have converged to threaten the continued use of LPDs. Proactive, innovative strategies are needed to mitigate potential conflicts between LPDs and humans landscapes that support ever-increasing numbers of large carnivores and humans. The first step in developing these strategies is to study LPD behavior in the presence and absence of large predators. This project will place Global Positioning System collars on LPDs and livestock to document how far, and under what circumstances, LPDs travel away from the livestock they are guarding.
Research and Education Grant: SW12-108, “Low Glycemic Potatoes, A Value-Added Crop for Montana,” Principal Investigator: David Sands, Montana, davidsands41@yahoo.com, $154,000.
Potatoes are a dietary staple across the U.S. and the world, providing carbohydrate and vitamins with minimal fat. Many potatoes have high glycemic index (GI) and, when consumed, elicit a very rapid spike in blood glucose levels, undesirable in individuals with diabetes. Low-GI potatoes are commercially available in niche markets in Denmark and Australia but are essentially non-available in the U.S. The purpose of this project is to identify, establish and scale-up production of low GI potato in Montana and to generate consumer demand and markets for these value-added potatoes. As the content of amylase in potatoes increases, the GI decreases, therefore the PI will screen potato germplasm (waxy and floury) for starch composition and select lines with high amylose content. These lines will be field evaluated for seed potato and table potato production in Montana.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-004, “Tour of Sustainable Small Grain Production in Eastern Washington,” Principal Investigator: Jeannie Olmstead, Montana, olmstead@montana.edu, $7,500.
Small grain producers in Montana share similar crop pest, conservation and marketing concerns with producers in eastern Washington, as well as a similar climate and production system. This tour will seek to educate Montana State University (MSU) Extension and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) personnel and other regional agriculture educators about sustainable crop production and marketing strategies being implemented by agriculture producers and researchers in eastern Washington that are applicable to their clientele in Montana. Gaining insight into successful implementation of these strategies will help educators better serve small grain producers seeking to incorporate sustainable practices into their operations.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-006, “Montana State University Extension Range Institute,” Principal Investigator: Tracy Mosley, Montana, tmosley@montana.edu, $60,000.
This project will educate, through tours and workshops, Extension field faculty, range technicians employed by federal agencies [i.e., Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (FS)], and ranchers on fundamental concepts of rangeland ecology and management as a means to assist livestock producers in more effectively and efficiently managing the rangelands they rely upon for their livelihood. With increased knowledge of basic and in-depth rangeland concepts, educators can more confidently provide sound, research-based information to livestock producers regarding the potential, limitations, capacity and function of their rangeland ecosystems.
Producer Grant: FW12-039, “Distilling Essential Oils from Southwest Medicinal Plants,” Principal Investigator: Tomas Enos, New Mexico, drenos@milagroherbs.com; $15,000.
The purpose of this project is to demonstrate and document the economical and technological feasibility of distilling three popular and abundant Southwest medicinal plants into marketable essential oils. The PI will purchase a production essential oil distiller of 15 gallon capacity and then document the processes and benefits of distilling pinon pine needles (Pinus edulis), juniper leaves and berries (Juniperus sp.) and native wormwood (Artemisia tridentata). All three plants are abundant in New Mexico and the Southwest and offer the potential for value-added and supplemental income for farming businesses in rural areas. All three plants have recorded and researched medicinal value both traditionally and in modern applications; the essential oils of those being highly active in beneficial properties.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-024, “The Rocky Mountain Survivor Queenbee Cooperative,” Principal Investigator: Melanie Kirby, New Mexico, ziaqueenbees@hotmail.com, $50,000.
The Rocky Mountain Survivor Queenbee Rearing Cooperative is a queen honeybee breeding and rearing exchange focusing on high altitude alpine survivor stock establishment and promotion. Promotion of naturally hearty pest- and pathogen- resistant honeybee stock leads to regional fortification of area bee stock, which assists in assuring beekeeping sustainability along with food security for surrounding communities. The project team plans to establish mountain survivor stock from their own apiaries and from introduced strains, which have demonstrated longevity and hygienic abilities in order to select breeders from these tested colonies. The PI will conduct cross-matings for exchange and monitor the performance of grafted survivor stock lines.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-034, “Management of Fusarium Wilt of Cucurbits with Vetch Cover Cropping and Grafted Transplants,” Principal Investigator: Alexandra Stone, Oregon, stonea@hort.oregonstate.edu, $49,158.
Squash family crops are all susceptible to Fusarium wilt, which is a serious disease worldwide and kills plants and reduces crop yield and quality. Susceptible crops cannot be successfully grown for seven years on wilt soils. The first objective of the project is to work closely with project farmers in the planning, delivery, outreach and evaluation of the project. The second objective is to evaluate two novel solutions to this disease problem that have been shown to be effective elsewhere: vetch cover cropping and grafted transplants. The third objective of the project is to engage other farmers in Oregon and beyond through field days, presentations, a website and webinars delivered through eOrganic.
Research and Education Grant: SW12-037, “A Collaborative Phenology Modeling System to Enhance Crop Management on Vegetable Farms, Principal Investigator: Nick Andrews, Oregon, nick.andrews@oregonstate.edu, $203,610.
The PI’s goal is to improve the economic and environmental resilience of vegetable growers by increasing their use of phenology (degree day or DD) modeling when making crop management decisions. DD models dramatically improve predictions of crop and weed maturity and the N cycle, but they are not readily available to most vegetable growers. Researchers will determine model parameters such as temperature thresholds and create an online system which will enable agricultural professionals and farmers to develop and share DD models for a wide range of vegetable varieties. Farm decisions supported by the system will include: 1) variety selection and scheduling of successive planting and harvest dates, 2) predicting whether a weed seedling will produce viable seed before vegetable harvest, and 3) determining whether crop nitrogen (N) uptake matches N mineralization from non-fertilizer sources.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-031: “Organic Conservation Training for Western Region Conservation Professionals,” Principal Investigator: Sarah Brown, Oregon, Sarah.Brown@por.usda.gov, $98,288.
This project will provide training and resources to improve the quality and coordination of conservation assistance to organic and transitioning producers in the Western region. Funding will support a workshop series, individualized technical assistance and resource development for NRCS professionals who assist producers with conservation planning. It will enable the Federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which provides financial payments and technical support to producers for conservation practices, to be more responsive to and valuable for organic farmers. The project addresses the current lack of expertise, tools and program coordination identified by NRCS, and the larger organic community, as a barrier to effective implementation of the EQIP Organic Initiative.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-020, “Feedlot Performance, Feed Efficiency, and Profitability of Cattle Fed Either a Complete Mixed Ration or Allowed to Voluntarily Select Their Diet,” Principal Investigator: Beth Burritt, Utah, beth.burritt@usu.edu, $49,976.
Cattle in feedlots are typically fed total mixed ration (TMR). However, feeding animals a TMR may lead to inefficiencies in feed conversion, reduced gains and increased illness. Providing animals a choice of foods can increase intake, improve feed efficiency and decrease costs compared to feeding a TMR. Offering livestock a choice of foods likely allows them to select a diet that meets their individual needs. This project will test the hypothesis that allowing cattle to voluntarily select feeds that differ in nutritional value will improve performance. To test this hypothesis, growing heifer calves will be assigned to two groups and fed in a GrowSafe feed system that measures individual animal intake via RFID ear tags. Heifers will be evaluated for weight gain and individual feed intake during the test period. Profitability of the two feeding systems will be compared.
Producer Grant: FW12-035, “Comparing Organic No Till with Conventional Tillage Methods When Direct Seeding Vegetables and Incorporating Cover Crops,” Principal Investigator: Gary Miller, Washington, goodearthcentre@gmail.com; $14,701.
The poor glacial remnant soils of the PI’s region are a challenge to successful farming. The soils are shallow, wet and high in clay content. The project focuses on how to improve soils in these conditions. No-till lends itself to this challenge by reducing the risk of soil compaction and increasing organic matter, as well as permitting earlier planting dates. However, most organic farming still depends on tillage despite its major problems of soil erosion and soil structure damage. There has been little research on organic no till systems that include vegetables that are directly seeded. The PI aims to combine organic and no till methods that are economically and environmentally sustainable. For this project, he will use conventional tillage methods in designated test plots.
Producer Grant: FW12-074, “Study and Control of Pseudomonas Syringae on Blueberry Plants,” Principal Investigator: Parmjit Uppal, Washington, parmjit@fraservalleypackers.com; $14,120.
Bacterial blight, caused by Pseudomonas syringae, is a serious blueberry disease in Washington State. Standard cultural controls for the prevention and treatment of bacterial blight include frost protection measures, pruning diseased wood out before fall and avoiding over application of nitrogen after the first of July to prevent overly vigorous growth, which is very susceptible to frost damage and fall infection. Copper Oxychloride is also used. Local blueberry growers applied these methods prior to the inception of this project, but the response has been less than acceptable. Therefore, the goal of this project is to investigate methods of reducing the incidence of bacterial blight infections, looking at 1) developing alternative preventative measures, specifically the use of wind machines, and 2) clarifying the roles of contributing factors in the development of bacterial blight.
Professional + Producer Grant: OW12-030, “Companion and Cover Cropping for Eastern Washington Dryland Grain Farms, Principal Investigator: Diana Roberts, Washington, robertsd@wsu.edu, $49,986.
Innovative farmers in Lincoln, Spokane and Whitman Counties, WA, want to include a cover crop or companion crop in their rotation to raise soil organic matter levels, break disease cycles, suppress weeds, penetrate soil compaction layers and improve soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen. Eastern Washington State is an excellent environment for dryland wheat production, which historically has been conducted in a cereal monoculture system. Over the last 15 years, farmers there have adopted no-till (direct seed) systems at a rate of 15 – 50%. Pacific Northwest farmers have learned they cannot adopt other researched practices without considerable modification due to rainfall patterns. The project team will focus on Cover Crop Cocktails.
Research and Education Grant: SW12-122, “Soil Quality Assessment in Long-Term Direct Seed to Optimize Production,” Principal Investigator: Tami Stubbs, Washington, tlstubbs@wsu.edu, $193,448.
Producers in the Pacific Northwest are adopting direct seed farming to reduce soil erosion, improve soil quality, increase water infiltration and reduce the number of passes with farm equipment. Direct seed producers are concerned about not reaching the yield and profit potential that was expected with long-term direct seed. This may be due to unique soil horizonation caused by lack of soil disturbance that makes nutrients unavailable for plant uptake due to pH, electrical conductivity (EC) or banding of nutrients in a zone. The PI will investigate the soil quality of twelve long-term direct seed sites to identify those characteristics that play a part in limiting yield potential. With these factors identified, management options can be investigated and strategies developed to obtain sustainable systems. This research will further knowledge of soil quality and assist in developing profitable best management practices for direct seed systems.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-026, “Technical Service Provider Training to Improve Services for Family Forest Landowners,” Principal Investigator: Dan Stonington, Washington, dan@nnrg.org, $43,874.
In Washington State, 1.8 million acres of rural family forestlands are at high risk of conversion to other uses. Yet, many landowners still participate only in declining large scale commodity markets and are not yet taking advantage of local, sustainable product diversification, forest restoration and marketing opportunities. In order to address conversion trends and build long-term economic health in rural areas, forestland owners in the Northwest need ways to sustain the economic viability of their operations while also enhancing natural resources. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a voluntary conservation program administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is an effective cost-share program to address these needs. Through this project, the Northwest Natural Resource Group, in partnership with NRCS agency staff, will provide two-day EQIP trainings with an integrated set of other tools and resources for professional foresters.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-036, “Training Toward Transition of Subsistence Farmers to the Market Economy,” Principal Investigator: Jim Currie, FSM, iimc@comfsm.fm, $60,000.
In Micronesia, a substantial part of the GDP goes for the importation of food products, some of which could be locally produced or substituted. At this same time, all Micronesians are experiencing a changing lifestyle, higher demand for cash for education, health services or other previously unexpected needs. Inter-linking the two observations indicates an opportunity for subsistence farmers to gain some cash through entering in some way, the market economy. This project is built upon the efforts of a previously funded Western SARE Project linking Farmers to Chefs in the region. That program is expected to increase the demand for local produce and by extension, require more farmers or at least a greater awareness of the business of marketing and the quality and food safety requirements of public marketing. The driving purpose of this project is to increase farmers’ ability to enter the market economy and to provide quality produce with assured food safety standards.
Professional Development Program Grant: EW12-034, “Building Capacity within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Island's (CNMI) Aquaculture Development Program (ADP) in Marine Finfish Hatchery Production to Create Opportunities for Farmers and Alleviate Pressure on Wild Fish Stocks," Principal Investigator: Michael Ogo, CMNI, michaelo@nmcnet.edu, $47,407.
An unsustainable harvest of the ocean's resources in CMNI eventually resulted in the collapse of the local near-shore fisheries where native people once fished with abundance for subsistence and small scale, sustainable, commercial fisheries. The introduction of aquaculture in the CNMI in 1995 brought hope, as it will allow wild, near-shore fish stocks to slowly recover with consumption of farm raised fish, provide job and economic opportunities for people in these coastal, island communities, and restock species that are in danger of collapsing with a stock enhancement program. Now, it is believed that the future of CNMI aquaculture is in ocean farming. This project will provide scholarships for attendance at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida. The short course is intended to improve and impart knowledge in aquaculture and fisheries with the objective of increasing seafood production in the U.S. and reducing importation.
