Photo by Howard Kerby 



** Chris Okano fished for striped 

 bass for eight years until he finally 

 went broke, he says. Instead of giving 

 up on fishing altogether, Okano has 

 decided to try another angle — raising 

 striped bass hybrids in a culture opera- 

 tion. 



** B.E. Singleton Jr.'s 40-acre pond 

 near Washington, N.C., may serve a 

 dual purpose. He uses it to pump sand 

 for his concrete business, and he'll try 

 to raise striped bass hybrids in its 

 waters. 



In Columbus County, the Wac- 

 camaw-Siouan Development Associa- 

 tion has constructed 12 quarter-acre 

 ponds for raising channel catfish and 

 striped bass hybrids. Executive Direc- 

 tor Gloria Patrick says the association 

 will use the ponds to show local farm- 

 ers how they may be able to supple- 

 ment their incomes. 



So far, aquaculture is only a fledg- 

 ling industry in coastal North 

 Carolina. But it's people like Okano, 

 Singleton and Patrick who may push 

 the industry from the fledgling stage 

 into viability. 



At a recent Sea Grant workshop, 20 

 participants joined a team of re- 

 searchers and advisory personnel to 

 find out more about the potential for 

 the industry here — particularly for the 

 striped bass hybrid. 



Ron Hodson, UNC Sea Grant 



associate director, offers three reasons 

 why hybrid culture looks promising: 

 "It grows faster, is more disease resis- 

 tant and hardier than either of the 

 parent species. It has potential because 

 of the market for striped bass that is 

 already available. And in North 

 Carolina we have the water and the 

 climate for this particular species." 



But even with such positive out- 

 looks. Randy Rouse, marine advisory 

 agent at Sea Grant's aquaculture 

 facility in Aurora, cautions potential 

 aquaculturists to investigate the 

 market before investing time and 

 money in an operation. "Set up ahead 

 of time where you're going to sell your 

 product and how much you're going to 

 sell it for," says Rouse. If you deter- 

 mine that there is a demand for 

 hybrids, you're ready to proceed. 



Your water supply may be the most 

 important consideration, since its 

 quality has a lot to do with the fish's 

 overall health. 



Surface water, ground water or 

 brackish estuarine water will do. Next, 

 evaluate the water. You'll need a 

 hardness of at least 50 parts per million 

 and a pH between 6.5 and 8.5. Check 

 for toxins, particularly in surface 

 waters from a farm. Runoff from 

 chemically treated fields could degrade 

 the water quality. 



The next step is to obtain a fish 

 propagation permit from the N.C. 



