SEAFOOD STUDIES 



Aquaculture in a Class By Itself 



By Carla B. Burgess 



The sign outside Barry Bey's class- 

 room proclaims aquaculture the wave of 

 the future. With that in mind, a lot of his 

 students are ready to "hang fin." 



Take Eddie Shannon, for instance. 



The 16-year-old sophomore enrolled 

 in beginning aquaculture at South 

 Brunswick High School last fall. It was a 

 natural progression for Shannon. 



"I've always liked fishing — it's my 

 main hobby." he says. "I'm looking into 

 going into the wildlife protection agency 

 or just becoming a fish farmer." 



After school, he works part-time on 

 nearby fish farms doing whatever needs to 

 be done — seining ponds to harvest or 

 transport fish and cleaning the fish for sale 

 to local restaurants. He has even helped a 

 local fellow put in a bulkhead to control 

 his pond erosion. 



Shannon and the other students who 

 attend Bey's vocational aquaculture classes 

 are receiving a unique education — one 

 that only a handful of high schools offer 

 nationwide. At an early age, these students 

 are getting helpful insight into the fast- 

 growing aquaculture industry. 



Shannon's classmate, Julie Lampe, 15, 

 plans to put her expertise to work outside 

 the classroom. Equipped with the hows 

 and whys of aquarium maintenance, she 

 hopes to be tending the fish tanks at the 

 N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher this summer. 

 Her goal is a career in marine biology. 



In the combination classroom-and-lab, 

 Bey's students have learned how to 

 identify freshwater and saltwater species, 

 how to recognize and treat fish disease, 

 and how to manage water quality. 



They have raised largemouth bass 

 from eggs to adults. They've also reared 

 fathead minnows, white bass, grass carp, 

 bream, catfish, striped bass, tropical fish 

 and frogs. They've even culaired 

 cherrystone clams. 



Outside of the classroom, they have 

 applied their knowledge in ways that may 

 eventually lead them to their life's calling. 



When the ponds at a munitions depot 

 at Sunny Point started drying out, it was 

 Bey's students who joined the U.S. Army 

 Corps of Engineers in rescuing and 

 relocating the threatened fish. 



As part of their community seivice 

 duties, the students stock nearby Boiling 

 Springs Lakes each fall with largemouth 

 bass, bluegill and fathead minnows. 



"It's become a legitimate career 



program off and mnning. With an 

 associate degree in wildlife management, 

 three years work for the N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources Commission and the design and 

 development of his brother's catfish farm 

 under his belt, he plunged into his first 

 teaching job with no fear of the water. 



The program was started on less than 

 $9,000. 



"He's one of the leaders in high 



choice, not just an elective," Bey says of 

 the four-year-old aquaculture program. 



This model program has achieved 

 celebrity not only in North Carolina, but 

 nationwide. The class even captured the 

 international spotlight last year during a 

 television program, "Get Hooked on 

 Aquaculture," which aired in the United 

 States. Canada and overseas. 



Bey has had no shortage of phone 

 calls and letters from people in other states 

 who want to know the secret of his 

 success. 



South Brunswick Principal Mose 

 Lewis gets credit for the idea of a hands-on 

 vocational education program about 

 aquaculture. It made good sense in an area 

 near 50 freshwater lakes and within 10 

 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. 



"It had a lot of support in the 

 community," says Bey. "Some of the first 

 students came from fishing families." 



Bey was responsible for getting the 



school education," says Tom Losordo, 

 aquaculture specialist with the N.C. 

 Cooperative Extension Service. Losordo 

 has been an advisor to the program, as has 

 Douglas Holland, president of Brunswick 

 Aquafarms. 



"He's into education as much as he is 

 business," Bey says of Holland, who uses 

 the students in the afternoon to help with 

 his catfish harvesting. "He set up in this 

 area because we had the available labor." 



And with more than 5,000 acres of 

 catfish ponds predicted for this locale 

 within the next two to three years, the job 

 market for budding young aquaculturalists 

 looks bright. 



One of the first students to complete 

 the program is now the assistant manager 

 at a fish farm. 



"We have had some of the kids go to 

 Cape Fear Tech and take marine biology; 

 one girl got a job with the EPA; some 

 others work in pet shops," says Bey. 



10 JULY/AUGUST 1991 



