Trip Report: 30th UJNR Aquaculture Panel Meeting and Symposium
The 30th U.S.-Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR) Aquaculture Panel Meeting was held from December 2-8, 2001 at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and featured field trips to five Central Florida aquaculture sites. Eleven Japanese, representing government and academia attended this meeting. From the U.S., 15 UJNR Aquaculture Panel members and 18 panel participants attended all or parts of the meeting.
Business Meeting (December 2)
The UJNR Aquaculture Panel business meeting was held during the afternoon
of December 2. This meeting was chaired by Dr. Yasuaki Nakamura and Dr. James
McVey, both Chairpersons of the UJNR Aquaculture Panel. The meeting opened
with remarks from Dr. McVey who emphasized the importance of U.S.-Japan aquaculture
cooperation in an era of reorganization of both countries' policies. He identified
on-shore recirculating systems, offshore aquaculture, marine stock enhancement,
and coastal modeling as areas for future U.S.-Japan cooperation. Dr. Nakamura
thanked the U.S. side for hosting this year's meeting. His hope for the meeting
was that the U.S. and Japan sides could agree on ways to promote UJNR, follow-up
activities, and cooperative research mechanisms.
As is customary, the meeting included an exchange of literature (over 100 documents) and a report on scientists who traveled overseas to work with their counterparts during the past year. It was agreed that three committees would focus on past UJNR Aquaculture accomplishments, the next 5-year plan, and ways to communicate UJNR's successes. The reports from these three committees will be used to address the areas of joint interest identified by the Dr. Nakamura in his opening address. The meeting closed with the announcement of next year's meeting in Ise City and Shigama, Japan.
On the night of December 2 a reception was held during which four UJNR officials were honored for their years of service. The Japanese honorees were Dr. Nagahisa Uki, Japan Fisheries Research Agency, Dr. Azeta, former UJNR Aquaculture Panel Chair, and Dr. Azeta, University of Tokyo. The U.S. honoree was Dr. Paul Kilho Park, formerly with NOAA.
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Symposium at Mote Marine Laboratory (December 3-4)
The focus for this symposium was "Ecology of Aquaculture Species and Enhancement
of Stocks". Currently, wild stocks of many different fish species are in decline.
Aquaculture is being used to culture these fish species for eventual release
into the wild. There is much concern over the genetic diversity of these cultured
stocks, the possible importation of non-endemic diseases, and the cost associated
with stocking programs. These issues were all addressed during the scientific
symposium. The purpose of the symposium was to introduce each side to the
current state of research in the U.S. and Japan. Sixteen scientists from the
U.S. and eight from Japan presented papers. The presentations at Mote Marine
Laboratory will be published in a proceedings book and on the web. The symposium
was opened by Dr. Kumar Mahadevan, Executive Director of Mote Marine Laboratory
and Ms. Mary Quillan, vice-mayor of Sarasota.
University of Florida Mini-Symposium (December 6)
A mini-symposium designed to discuss advancements in aquaculture at the University
of Florida was held in Gainesville on December 6. The symposium topics included
the university's shellfish, sturgeon, and aquatic plant aquaculture programs
as well as its aquatic health program. This symposium was opened by Dr. William
Lindberg, the chair of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at
the University of Florida.
Central Florida Field Trips (December 5-7)
The following places were visited by the UJNR Aquaculture Panel members and
participants.
