WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2015 17 There appears to be more attention and expansion in marine aquaculture with increasing interest by students to this sector as new marine species are under investigation and new technologies evolve. The Census of Aquaculture indicates that the number of aquaculture farms in the U.S. decreased by 28 percent between 2005 and 2013 and farm gates sales reached $1.37 billion in 2013 (National Agricultural Statistics Service 2014). That was only a modest increase over the period when adjusted for inflation. The U.S. continues to lag behind other regions of the world in comparison with higher global rankings in earlier decades. The competition in the globalized seafood market is strong and access to suitable open marine sites remains broadly challenging to shellfish and finfish businesses. There should be more societal pressures and supportive policies to expand domestic production for food security and sustainability. Aquaculture will continue to be influenced by trade globalization, increased urbanization and expected population growth. There are many opportunities for instruction at different levels including summer training programs and industry sponsored training and internship activities. Since the 1970s, the U.S. has trained many students who have made immeasurable contributions to advancing sustainable aquaculture development, domestically and globally. The offering of online courses is increasing to reach more students. Each of the three contributing aquaculture professional organizations has active student professional development activities and strongly supports the premise that today’s students represent the future of aquaculture. As aquaculture becomes more science- and technologyfocused and information-rich, education and training will become more specialized with new research tools and instrumentation to support a more intensified, diverse and sophisticated sector. Research and extension programs are active collaborators with industry sectors. Instruction and training are the foundations for these programs, along with sound industry development, good governance frameworks and much more. Successful business models will be driven by competitive, fast-changing technologies and innovative practices. Stricter environmental regulations and new water policies will stimulate pioneering systems and development directions that will depend on training a competent workforce to develop, regulate, sustain and expand this important farmed aquatic food sector domestically and globally. The U.S. cannot afford to lose its critical human capital from education and training or lose critical competencies required to support long-term sustainable aquaculture development that has evolved over several career generations since pioneering efforts in the 1960s and 1970s. Coordinated research, development and training are essential so current productivity can be adequately enhanced to meet increased future demands of technological changes. Education and training are the mainstays to transfer knowledge, skills and attitudes in research. They are critical to capitalizing on the diversity of animal (aquaculture) science research needed to improve national and global food security (National Research Council 2015). Research in biological sciences has undergone a major transformation in the last 10-15 years from three powerful innovations: recombinant DNA technology, new instrumentation and the digital revolution (National Academies of Science 2003). These new tools have expanded discovery in new areas, creating a stronger scientific base for aquaculture development. They have also created new niches of research and specialized expertise. Underfunding aquaculture research has long-lasting consequences, including a decline in faculty, post-doctoral and graduate student positions, loss or consolidation of aquaculture-supporting departments and a lag in improvement or enhancement of essential infrastructure that is critical to new innovations to address future challenges (National Research Council 2015). Notes Thomas Broyles, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN Gary Jensen, formerly National Institute of Food and Agriculture and project co-leader. gljensen7@gmail.com Maxwell Mayeaux, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Washington, DC Michael Schwarz, Virginia Tech University and liaison for United States Aquaculture Society. Sandra Shumway, University of Connecticut and liaison for the National Shellfisheries Association. Jesse Trushenski, Southern Illinois University and liaison for Fish Culture Section of the American Fisheries Society. L. Curry Woods III, University of Maryland and project co-leader. 1 Qualtrics© software, Provo, Utah Acknowledgments Thanks to the countless individuals who collected information and data and completed the project questionnaires. We also greatly valued critical review of the questionnaire by Doris Hicks, Robert Johnson, Steve McMullin and Cathy Roheim. Special thanks are extended to the University of Connecticut, which shared information to help identify postsecondary institutions with aquaculture education programs. References Jensen, G., J. Murray and M. Mayeaux. 2005. Highlights and assessment of joint USDA/NOAA national aquaculture extension questionnaire. Abstracts, Aquaculture America 2005, New Orleans, LA. National Academies of Science. 2003. Bio2010: Transforming undergraduate education for future research biologists. The National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. USA National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2014. Census of Aquaculture (2013) Volume 3, Special Studies, Part 2. AC-12SS-2, U.S. Department of Agriculture. National Research Council. 2015. Critical Role of Animal Science Research in Food Security and Sustainability. The National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. USA U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food and Agricultural Education Information System. 2013. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Online. http://www.faeis.ahnrit.vt.edu U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated postsecondary education data system. Online. http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjExNDY=