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**Species Group: Production Systems**

**Problem: Currently used earthen pond systems are difficult to manage
and inefficient.**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Currently used earthen pond systems are difficult to manage and
    inefficient.

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop production systems and management technologies to improve
    efficiency, manageability, and economic returns of pond systems.

**Extension/Tech transfer Statement:**

-   Work with farmers to implement improved systems on commercial scale
    under controlled conditions (on-farm verification) to further refine
    performance and verify effects on productions costs.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Pond-based production systems developed using multiple approaches
    that reduce cost of production by 10% compared to current production
    practices.

**Possible Approaches:**

-   Develop improved feeding strategies/feed management

-   Investigate alternative species for culture or polyculture

-   Develop improved inventory management techniques

-   Improve techniques to manage off flavor (due to microorganisms and
    undesirable algal blooms) and phytoplankton biomass

-   Develop engineered pond-based systems/equipment

-   Identify methods to improve water quality via chemical, mechanical,
    or biological methods.

**Problem: Shellfish farmers suffer a 40-50% mortality from field
planting to harvest.**

**Problem Statement:**

-   High production loss is due to predators, biofouling, and
    environmental (overwintering) changes.

**Research Statement:**

-   Identify, field test, and validate effectiveness of methods to
    reduce mortality due to predators and biofouling. Develop
    guidelines, recommendations, and preventative procedures for working
    with hard clams and overwintering temperature changes.

**Extension/Tech transfer Statement:**

-   Extension will work with growers, researchers, product
    manufacturers, and finance and insurance professionals to transfer
    knowledge to stakeholders.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Increase production survival by 20% for all species growers.

**Possible Approaches:**

-   Improve efficiency of predator control and biofouling
    reduction/removal in cost effective manner.

**Problem: There is little mechanization in shellfish production and
processing, which limits production and survival and increases labor
costs.**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Lack of automation and mechanization increases costs, reduces
    production and limits competitiveness of industry.

**Research Statement:**

-   Analysis of various shellfish production systems is critical first
    step. Then develop methods to automate or mechanize predator
    control, biofouling control, and processing for each existing system
    or develop new systems.

**Extension/Tech transfer Statement:**

-   Serve as liaison between industry and research engineers to analyze
    present systems and to modify and/or develop alternative
    cost-effective systems with reduced labor input.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Development of cost-effective shellfish production systems that
    reduce onerous labor, increase productivity of the individual and
    improves product quality and supply.

**Possible Approaches:**

-   Enlist engineers and identify funding to address shellfish
    production systems and their mechanization.

**Problem: Year-round seedstock production**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Need technology to produce high-quality gametes for RAS on a
    year-round basis

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop technology to produce spawns year round from multiple
    species in RAS

-   Identify critical dietary requirements to improve egg quality

-   Determine impact of water chemistry (nitrate) in RAS on maturation
    and spawning.

-   Develop data to secure approval for additional spawning aids
    (hormones/analogs)

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Make large numbers of seedstock for new species availabe for common
    applications.

**Problem: Live food production systems**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Lack of mass-production systems for copepod species

**Research Statement:**

-   Identify suitable copepod species for larval fish.

-   Develop mass production systems to accommodate the various life
    stages of copepods.

-   Determine enrichment requirements to enrich copepods in order to
    produce high-quality larvae.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   High density, sustainable/consistent production system for copepods.

**Problem: ARS does not have a commercial-scale research facility for
shellfish on the East Coast**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Without a suitable commercial scale shellfish research facility,
    USDA ARS cannot focus on shellfish production research for East
    Coast shellfish species.

**Research Statement:**

-   Problems and issues identified in the ARS Research Priority Setting
    Workshop cannot be addressed presently by ARS because of lack of
    research facility centrally located on the East Coast.

**Extension/Tech transfer Statement:**

-   Extension cannot outreach research results since there is no place
    to do research.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   ARS will partner with existing facility to establish an intramural
    shellfish research facility on the East Coast.

**Possible Approaches:**

-   Talk with Rutgers University about linking with RU Multi-Species
    Aquaculture Development Facility.

**Problem: Biofouling of off-shore net pens**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Biofouling is a continuous problem in off-shore cage culture.

**Research Statement:**

-   Identify appropriate, cost-effective tools to prevent or reduce
    biofouling, e.g., net treatments, cleaning devices.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Reduced operating costs associated with net cleaning by 50%

**Problem: Feeding offshore cages at remote locations**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Feeding at offshore locations may have high labor/fuel costs,
    storage issues, and efficient feed delivery challenges (storage,
    delivery, monitoring)

**Extension/Tech transfer Statement:**

-   Reduced operating cost associated with feeding by 50%.

-   An effective feed monitoring system that reduces waste by \< 2x.

**Problem: Offshore cage harvesting**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Harvesting subsurface cage is labor intensive and requires divers.

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop simple harvesting methods that incorporates size grading.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Reduced operating costs associated with harvesting while maintaining
    high product quality.

-   Consistent size sorting to +/- 20%.

**Problem: Unpredictable approvals of permits for net cage production
systems**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Some permits for offshore aquaculture are given and some are
    rejected for non-rational reasons.

**Research Statement:**

-   Government needs to set even more clear requirements.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Criteria based permits for offshore aquaculture.

**Possible Approaches:**

-   Government needs to do this with lobbying from aquaculture industry.

**Problem: Disease treatment strategies for offshore cages**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Treating diseases in offshore cages is difficult and expensive

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop efficient and effective treatment strategies for offshore
    cages

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Reduce use of bath treatments by 50%.

-   Reduce labor associated with bath treatments by 50%.

**Problem: Waste handling from large scale intensive fish farms**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Infrastructure is not always in place to handle waste from large
    fish farms.

-   How do we remove solids more effectively and at reduced cost?

-   How do we remove nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon
    dioxide) more effectively and at reduced cost?

-   What to do with the waste that is removed, including alternatives to
    recycle wastes.

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop low-cost and effective technologies and practices for
    capturing and dewatering biosolids from large scale production
    facilities.

-   Develop low-cost and effective technologies (both super-intensive
    and less intensive based on regional/geographical situations) and
    practices for removing nitrogen and phosphorus produced within
    intensive large-scale fish farms.

-   Integrate the waste management practices in the production systems
    with downstream waste management practices. Integrate waste
    management with other agriculture opportunities.

-   Determine the concentrations of metals and other possible
    contaminants found in waste residuals and reclaimed water and what
    are technologies and practices that can remediate these
    contaminants.

-   Characterize carbon footprint of different aquaculture production
    systems and how their location and proximity to market influences
    carbon footprint.

**Extension/Tech transfer Statement:**

-   Work closely with farmers during R&D and to transfer the
    technologies and implement BMPS at the conclusion of the project.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   The availability of practical and cost effective waste disposal or
    reuse options for new large-scale intensive fish farms.

-   The goal is to meet regulatory compliance and, in some cases,
    achieve zero discharge using technologies, BMP's, and waste
    recycling or integration of waste streams into other systems where
    they can be beneficially reused.

-   Zero or low adverse environmental impact.

**Problem: Off-flavor can be a problem with fish produced in RAS.**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Off-flavor can be a problem with fish produced in RAS.

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop micro-organisms that can competitively exclude off-flavor
    producing organisms.

-   Identify where the off-flavor is generated in different types of RAS
    and methods to remediate.

-   Develop coating that will reduce biofouling.

**Problem: Biofouling in undesirable locations in RAS will exert an
oxygen demand, produce undesirable compounds such as off-flavor, and
harbor pathogens.**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Can new anti-biofouling coatings (or competitive biologics) be
    applied cost-effectively or without introducing toxic contaminants
    to reduce biofouling in intensive aquaculture systems?

**Research Statement:**

-   Integrate new developments in biofilm research to aquaculture
    production systems.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Reduce off-flavor and areas that harbor pathogens.

**Problem: Need to define and optimize production variables (including
energy efficiency) for RAS systems (species specific)**

**Problem Statement:**

-   Optimize:

    a.  **•** Labor

    b.  • Energy

    c.  • Materials handling

    d.  • Grading/inventory control

    e.  • Harvest

    f.  • Filtration (biological & mechanical)

    g.  • Building & facility design

    h.  • Effluent Handling

-   Continuous Monitoring Systems

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Commercial-scale species-specific demonstrations, conducted through
    public-private partnerships, with published production variable
    descriptions and extensive outreach

**Problem: Lack of species-specific BMP's for commercial-scale RAS**

**Research Statement:**

-   Develop a standard format for species specific BMPs. Develop species
    specific BMPs from existing information and new systems. Verify BMPs
    on demonstration/commercial-scale production systems.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   Develop and publish species-specific BMPs for commercial-scale RAS

**Problem: Discharge of saline waters from inland RAS**

**Research Statement:**

-   Development or optimization of RAS to reduce effluent discharge.
    Effluent treatment & recovery methodologies. De-nitrification
    technologies to increase increase water re-use.

**Desired Outcomes (with measurable outcomes):**

-   System designs to meet or exceed discharge regulations on a regional
    basis.