Faculty Progress Report 06-1
January - February 2006
- Florida Sea Grant Elise B. Newell Seminar Series
- Florida Sea Grant Funding Outlook and Next Opportunity
- Meetings
- Job Announcement: National Sea Grant Director
- Florida Sea Grant and the Shrimp Industry
- Ocean Observations Systems Update
Contact:
Florida Sea Grant Elise B. Newell Seminar Series [top]
As a service to Florida's faculty and studentsof higher education in the marine sciences and allied fields, we announce the 2006 series of Florida Sea Grant Seminars. Annually the seminars allow persons from on and off Florida's campuses to learn more about timely issues concerning the coast and ocean. The format for each event includes both a formal presentation as well as individual and small group discussions. More information about these distinguished speakers is at http://www.flseagrant.org/new_items/index.htm#workshops.
- February 13, University of Central Florida, Ecological Forecasting in the Coastal Zone: Climate and Biogeography, David Wethey, University of South Carolina
- February 23, Florida Institute of Technology, Paleotempestology of the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, Kam-biu Liu, Louisiana State Univeristy
- March 7, University of North Florida, Application of Nanotechnology in Physiology and Disease Studies to Evaluate Environmental Stress, Adeel A. Butt, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- April 10-13, Florida Gulf Coast University, Bivalve Molluscs as Potential Vectors for Transport and Ecological Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms, Sandra Shumway, University of Connecticut
- April 17-20, Florida Gulf Coast University, Discontinuous Utilization of Critical Estuarine Habitat: Hot Spots and Their Importance to Fishery Management, Richard Grant Gilmore, Jr., Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science, Inc.
- April 19, University of Florida, Economic Impacts of Marine Reserves: The Importance of Spatial Behavior, James E. Wilen, University of California, Davis
Florida Sea Grant Funding Outlook and Next Opportunity [top]
Despite a reduction in the U.S. Congressional appropriation for Sea Grant in FY 2006, Florida Sea Grant faculty slated to start projects in February 2006 will be able to carry on their year of work as planned. Thanks to the efforts of retiring National Sea Grant director Ron Baird and his staff, much of the reduction was absorbed in national and regional activities in order to maintain the so-called "core" programs in the states.
Meanwhile, the next call for biennial FSG research proposals will be released January 2, 2007, for work that will begin in 2008.
Meetings [top]
- National Conference on Beach Preservation Technology, February 1-3, 2006, Sarasota, Florida. The objective of the conference is to provide the latest in beach preservation technology and real-world practive and also provide a technological transfer from the scientific and engineering community to government officials who make the decisions on coastal projects and policy. For information http://www.fsbpa.com/SEMINAR.HTM.
- Regional Southeast Atlantic Sea Grant Extension Meeting, February 20-22, 2006, Greentown, South Carolina
- BioFlorida's 8th Annual Conference, "Building the Vision: From Cornerstone to Capstone," February 21-22, 2006, West Palm Beach. For registration and agenda http://www.bioflorida.com.
- American Fisheries Society 136th Annual Meeting 2006, September 10-14, 2006, Lake Placid, New York. For information http://afslakepladic.org/.
- Florida Sea Grant Extension Meeting, September 14-15, 2006, Naples, Florida
- National Sea Grant Fish Extension Conference, October 16-17, 2006, Jacksonville Beach, Florida. For information http://www.fsbpa.com/seminar.htm.
- BioFlorida's 9th Annual Conference and Florida Marine Biotechnology Summit, November 14-15, 2006, Gainesville Hilton
- 3rd National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration, December 9-13, 2006, New Orleans, Louisiana. For information http://www.estuaries.org/conference.
Job Opening [top]
Immediate opening for Director of the National Sea Grant Office, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland. For information http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=37835923&AVSDM=
2005%2D12%2D27+13%3A49%3A52&Logo=0&q=.
Quality Assurance in the World Shrimp Industry [top]
Shrimp is one of the leading imports of seafood into the US. Shrimp representing 34% of total US edible seafood imports, and about 90% of all shrimp consumed in the US is imported. It is critical that imported shrimp are high in quality and safe to consume, and that the number of rejected shipments is small in order to minimize economic losses. Florida Sea Grant has played a lead role in assuring product quality.
The annual shrimp school presented jointly by Florida Sea Grant and the Aquatic Food Products Program of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences began in 1995. It was conceived and organized by Steve Otwell, FSG seafood safety specialist, and has been conducted by Otwell and Laura Garrido, current shrimp school coordinator. The school is dedicated to advancing shrimp product quality and safety, and has become the leading academically-based domestic and international training program for shrimp processors and regulators worldwide. Annual demand for the school always exceeds the number of seats (25) available. The training combines lectures with daily laboratory experience and demonstrations, and the topics change as processing and regulatory issues change; detecting chloramphenicol has been a recent topic. This three-day school is useful for experienced and new suppliers, processors, buyers, importers, exporters, inspectors and quality control managers.
The US Food & Drug Administration now considers this school its principal training program for shrimp processors and importers into the US, and each year sends from two to four instructors to teach topics of current priority to FDA. All other training is conducted by experienced speakers from the University of Florida and private industry. Recent industry speakers have represented ABC Labs, Darden Restaurants, Costco, Contessa Foods, European Union and the National Fisheries Institute. From 2000-04, a total of eight schools were completed. Six were held in Florida, one in Nicaragua and one in California (focused on Asia). Two were focused on Latin America and were taught in Spanish. From 2000-2004, 229 participants completed the schools, with 93 percent coming from industry. The attendees have come from 20 different countries. Forty-five percent have come from outside the US. The US is one of the three major shrimp importing regions in the world, and major suppliers to the US from China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Ecuador, some of the major exporting countries have attended. The Nicaragua school was part the NOAA/Sea Grant Hurricane Mitch recovery effort. Ten of the world’s top 25 shrimp companies were in attendance at the 2004 school. Evaluations are conducted at the end of each school. For example, in the Nicaragua school, 87.5 percent rated the training as very effective; 12.5 percent as effective. All 24 participants indicated they would use the information during the next 12 months.
For information regarding the 2006 Shrimp School.
Ocean Observations Systems Update [top]
Here is the latest newsletter of The National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observation.