Overall, North Carolina's foodfish 

 aquaculture operations totaled nearly $17 

 million in 1999, including shellfish and hybrid 

 striped bass operation in coastal areas and trout 

 farms in the mountains. In addition, hatchery 

 operations, which produce the young fish that 

 are sold to the fish farmers, were worth nearly 

 $1.5 million in 1999. 



A major aquaculture industry in coastal 

 counties is hybrid striped bass. In 1999, 23 

 producers had 600 acres of ponds that 

 produced 1.8 million pounds of fish worth 

 $4.5 million. 



Sea Grant research and demonstration 

 projects in the 1980s showed commercial 

 operations could be profitable. After a period 

 of rapid growth through the 1990s, the number 

 of hybrid striped bass producers has stabilized, 

 but their acreage continues to expand, says 

 Ron Hodson, North Carolina Sea Grant 

 director and past president of the Hybrid 

 Striped Bass Growers Association. 



'The role of state agriculture officials has 

 been crucial in the maturation of the industry," 

 Hodson adds. 



In November, the N.C. Aquaculture 

 Development Conference planning committee 

 honored now-retired Agriculture Commis- 

 sioner Jim Graham and former Farm Bureau 

 President Bob Jenkins for their support over 

 the years. Hodson also cites Ellis' daily efforts. 



'Tom developed a streamlined permit- 

 ting process that is critical for new and 

 expanded aquaculture operations. Through 

 cooperation from various state agencies, a 

 single request can be routed for approval 

 within the state system," Hodson says. 



And the traditional agricultural commu- 

 nity considers aquaculture part of the family. 

 Hodson was one of several aquaculture 

 "pioneers" recently designated as "Ambassa- 

 dors of Agriculture." Others honored include 

 Sea Grant researcher Harry Daniels of North 

 Carolina State University, Tom Losordo of 

 Cooperative Extension, and Rob Mayo of 

 Carolina Classics Catfish of Ayden. 



In recent years, the aquaculture market 

 has seen economic fluctuations — and North 

 Carolina has responded. 



When initial supplies of farm-raised 

 hybrid striped bass were low, the product 

 commanded premium prices, thus allowing 



even small farms to be quite profitable, 

 explains economist Rebecca Dunning of the 

 state agriculture department. 



As the supply has increased, the price has 

 dropped. In recent years, established farmers 

 have expanded production, yet it has been 

 harder for potential farmers to cover initial 

 overhead — tanks, fingerlings, etc. — with 

 small operations, she adds. 



But the lessons learned in hybrid striped 

 bass — from spawning and hatching to water 

 quality and feeding cycles — now are being 

 applied to other, high- value species. 



Sea Grant researchers expect commercial 

 operations in flounder in just a few years. 

 Meanwhile, Lee Brothers, a hybrid striped 

 bass farmer, has a state Fishery Resource 

 Grant (FRG) project to look at farm-raised 

 mullet. And yellow perch farms are running in 

 Brunswick County. 



Agribusiness leader R.C. Hunt still has 

 plenty of livestock, but his farm operations 

 now include Southern Farm Tilapia. His 

 facilities — a hatchery, grow-out operation 

 and processing plant that includes 4,000- 

 square-feet of freezer space — are located in 

 Franklin, Nash and Wilson counties. 



For tilapia, he is building upon the 

 lessons — both positive and negative — 

 learned in the pork industry. His fish farm runs 

 the gamut, from spawning through delivery to 

 retail stores and restaurants, thus eliminating 

 steps that many commodities take before 

 reaching the consumer. 

 "With tilapia, we can 

 break that chain to 

 several links," Hunt 

 says. 



He expects to 

 process up to 1 million 

 pounds per year by the 

 end of 2001. And he 

 hopes to sell young fish 

 from his hatchery to 

 new tilapia farmers — 

 and to process and 

 market fish from those 

 farms and others. "We 

 made investments to be 

 an anchor in fish farm 

 development," Hunt 

 says. 



The state's largest category of shellfish 

 production is soft-shell crabs, with 853 

 operations that provided nearly 700,000 pounds 

 in 1998, worth $2.6 million. The combination 

 of oyster and clam operations totaled 279 in 

 1998. That year, 2,170 acres of shellfish beds 

 netted nearly 18,400 bushels worth nearly 

 $760,000. 



Shellfish operations also have benefited 

 from a combined state effort. Those efforts 

 include FRG research projects by Jim and 

 Bonnie Swartzenberg of J&B Aquafood of 

 Stump Sound. Their business started off as a 

 harvest of wild shellfish, but they soon 

 expanded into mariculture, or growing of 

 cultured oysters in nurseries until they are large 

 enough to be planted in leased shellfish beds. 



Sea Grant's mariculture demonstration 

 facility is a cooperative venture with Carteret 

 Community College in Morehead City. The 

 facility serves as a lab for students and will 

 house Sea Grant demonstrations for culture of 

 clams, oysters, mussels and soft-shell crabs. 



Some aquaculture operations have a 

 second economic role — nature-based tourism. 

 Visitors to the Blue Ridge Mountains often 

 stop at farm-raised trout farms to fish in the 

 stocked ponds. 



And at the coast, Kevin Midgett of 

 Hatteras finds tourists clammor to be 

 clammers. The "u-pick-it" portion of his 

 shellfish operation has become his most 

 profitable. □ 



Vanguard Farms hosted a recent aquaculture field day. 



18 WINTER 2001 



