New York City," Hodson recalls. But Copeland's project — to quantify the 

 thermal impacts of the new Brunswick Steam Electric plant — was right up 

 Hodson's alley. Field work would be in Brunswick County with lab analysis 

 in Pamlico County. 



The project grew, and Hodson would have a lead role in six years of 

 field work. He came to Raleigh in 1979 to focus on final reports and journal 

 articles. 



"I was the big picture, and Ron was the scientific detail," Copeland 

 recalls. "We were a good team." 



LEFT TO RIGHT: 1. Ron 

 Hodson \isits mth former 

 Rhode Island Sea Grant 

 Director Scott Nixon and 

 Dan Baden of the University 

 of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington before a 2001 

 seminar. 2. Hodson checks 

 eggs during early years of 

 commercial production. 

 3. Hodson, B.J. Copeland 

 and Randy Rouse 

 conducted aquaculture 

 field research in the early 1980s. 



Aquaculture Aptitude 



By 1 98 1 , North Carolina had a Sea Grant College Program 

 opening for an associate director. Hodson applied. 



Bill Queen of East Carolina University was on the search committee. 

 "He had a question: Could I keep the Sea Grant aquaculture effort going in 

 Aurora?" recalls Hodson. 



About half of Hodson's new position focused on research administra- 

 tion, and half on aquaculture. "He knew fish — and aquaculture was the 

 coming thing. Sea Grant needed to be in it," Copeland says. 



Early on, Hodson set a goal of hybrid striped bass production for the 

 seafood markets — building upon work started by Howard Kirby. 



An initial mission was to build a hatchery. "By 1986, we knew we 

 could do this on a commercial scale," Hodson recalls of the work to culture 

 the striped bass/white bass cross for food markets. 



In 1987, Hodson received a $100,000 grant from the National Coastal 

 Resources Research and Development Institute to transfer the research 

 technology for pond aquaculture to a pilot commercial operation. But at the 

 last minute, the original farmer pulled out. 



Colleague Randy Rouse suggested Hodson talk with father/son team 

 Lee and Harvey Brothers in Beaufort County. "It was the beginning of a 

 great relationship," Hodson explains. 



Lee Brothers agrees. "I consider Ron a true friend," he says. "Ron is a 

 phenomenal man. He's got so much common sense along with his academic 

 sense." 



And Hodson challenged him to stay focused on the goal — even if it 

 meant going into a pond in February to sample fish. "If he was going in, I 



had to do it too," Brothers adds with a laugh. 



The first year, the team lost a lot of fish — but not their determination. 

 Lundie Spence, former North Carolina Sea Grant marine educator, 

 recalls going to the farm one Saturday with Ron. A parasite was threatening 

 thousands of baby bass. "Ron was with the family the whole time, sharing 

 the stress, bringing in the experts and added support," Spence explains. 



By 1988, the team had the first demonstration crop — 70,000 pounds 

 of pond-raised hybrid striped bass for the food market. 



The previous year, Jim Carlsburg, in a private venture in California had 

 the first commercial production of hybrids in tanks. The combined industry 

 - including ponds and tanks — took off, thanks 

 in part to a moratorium on striped bass 

 fishing in the Chesapeake region in light 

 of declining natural stocks, along with new 

 fishing limits in other states. 



North 

 Carolina proved 

 to be ideal for 

 pond aquaculture 

 — with its clay- 

 based soils and flat 

 coastal plain. The 



Castle Hayne aquifer provided great quantity and quality of water for 

 aquaculture, with especially good calcium levels. 



The N.C. General Assembly recognized economic potential in coastal 

 aquaculture, and appropriated $400,000 for NC State to hire researchers 

 and extension staff. 



The group included researcher Craig Sullivan, who joined NC State to 

 focus on the reproductive physiology, and later genetics. Hodson, Sullivan 

 and others worked with the Brothers at Carolina Fisheries, and with other 

 new fish farmers. 



"Ron provided great service to these 'green' farmers," Sullivan says. 

 "He took them under his wing, and worked boot-to-boot to teach them 

 about critical factors — spawning, grading, and dealing with parasites, 

 pathogens and water quality management." 



At one point, the state had more than 20 hybrid striped bass farms. 

 Today, 19 are still operating. About 3 million pounds are produced here 

 annually — a quarter of the 12 million pounds produced nationally. 



A founding member of the Striped Bass Growers Association, Hodson 

 helped write the bylaws and served as president secretary and on the board 



22 Coastwatch I Early Summer 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



