The Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center (SOSC) in 

 Washington, D.C., and its counterpart, the Mediterranean Marine 

 Sorting Center (MMSC) in Tunisia, performed taxonomic sorting of 

 marine biological samples and related specimen and data analyses 

 for marine scientists around the world. Over 9 million specimens 

 were sorted at SOSC and another 2 million at MMSC in FY '73. SOSC 

 was heavily involved in the sorting and recording of samples from 

 the Antarctic, in support of NSF's U.S. Antarctic Research Program, 

 while MMSC sorted Mediterranean specimens, including those 

 resulting from a biotic survey of the Gulf of Txnis. 



The Sea Grant program has emphasized the solution of technical 

 problems that impede the expansion of commercial aquaculture 

 programs. These include the diagnosis, prevention, and control of 

 disease; the achievement of desirable characteristics such as fast 

 growth and high product yield through selective breeding; problems 

 of reproduction, larval development and maturation time; dietary 

 problems such as food conversion efficiency and nutrition 

 requirements. In addition, the economics of aquaculture is being 

 studied to evaluate the commercial feasibility of using the technical 

 research results. The major marine species now under study include 

 the American lobster, brown and white shrimp, spiny lobster, 

 English sole, yellow perch, walleye pike, oysters, salmon, and blue 

 crab. 



These lobsters in planktonic stages of development are used in maturation 

 studies sponsored by the National Sea Grant program at the University of 

 California at San Diego. 



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