SERA-IEG-9 Annual Meeting Minutes
March 24-26, 1996
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,  Pine Bluff, Arkansas
 

Sunday - March 24, 1996

The program started with an afternoon tour of three commercial aquaculture facilities.  The tour included the Anderson Minnow Farms, Poole's Goldfish Farm, and Keo Hybrid Striped Bass Hatchery.  A social was held at the Pines Best Western after the tours.

Monday - March 25, 1996

The plenary session was opened by Dr. Nathan Stone, UAPB.  Dr. Stone introduced the Chancellor of UAPB - Lawrence A. Davis, Jr., who welcomed the SERA-IEG-9 to Pine Bluff.  Dr. Rebecca Lockman and Dr. Peter Perschbacher were recognized as co-hosts for the meeting arrangements.

Next, a series of talks was presented to familiarize the group with aquaculture in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta region and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff program.

Aquaculture in Arkansas  - Ted McNulty, State Aquaculture Coordinator

Catfish Extension - David Heikes, Extension Fisheries Specialist, and Carl Hayden, County Extenion Agent

Catfish Research - Ed Robinson, Research Director, Stoneville, MS

Baitfish Extension - Eric Park, Fish Health Specialist

Baitfish Research - Nathan Stone, Extension Fisheries Specialist

Hybrid Striped Bass - Mike Freeze, Keo Fish Farm

Crawfish - Jimmy Avery, Extension Fisheries Specialist, LSU, and Ray McClain, Researcher, LSU Crowley Exp. Stat.

Following the plenary session information/exchange workgroups were formed.  Workgroup topics included: 1) Economics/Marketing, 2) Alternative Aquaculture Species, 3) Nutrition, 4) Shellfish, 5) Aquaculture Engineering, 6) Parasites and Diseases, 7)Water Quality/Effluents, 8) Alternative Culture Systems, and 9) Genetics.  Each workgroup was given one and a half hours to meet.

Other SERA-IEG-9 Business:

Written summaries of aquacultural-related extension and research activities from 12 Universities/Laboratories were duplicated and provided to all attendees.  The attendees liked having written summaries of aquacultural activities and wanted to continue to solicit these reports.  The chairman asked for and got a volunteer from each institution present to commit to producing the report for their institution before the 1997 SERA-IEG-9 meeting.

A preliminary draft of the Southern Aquaculture Directory was passed out and discussed.  All present seem to think it was a good idea.  It was decided that the task of soliciting information to complete the directory would go to Dr. Muntifering and Foster (the Research and Extension Advisors) so that they could contact all institutions involved in aquaculture in the Southern region and solicit inputs.

A discussion was held in reference to Dr. Muntifering's letter (attached) on measuring productivity and quality of the SERA-IEG-9 experience.  Participants agreed that over the years the "exchange group" (which has had several acronyms) allowed them to network better, not unnecessarily duplicate efforts, collaborate with other scientists/institutions on multi-state projects, and provided them with new insights and enthusiasm.  All judged this as a high-quality, productive experience but did not know how to measure or quantify it.  One suggestion that will be explored for the 1997 meeting will be the development of an evaluation instrument that could be filled out to evaluate the meeting and its benefits.

The University of Tennessee (Knoxville) volunteered to be the site of the 1997 SERA-IEG-9 meeting.  The meeting will be held in March.


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