Aquaculture

A bill designed to outlaw the trapping of Maryland's diamondback terrapin, which is threatened by a growing market in China, could be weakened by an exemption tentatively approved yesterday. The state Senate voted 27-19 to amend the proposed ban to allow the continued trapping and possession of the turtles for aquaculture. Supporters said the change was designed to protect a Preston waterman who has started breeding thousands of the turtles in tanks behind his home for sale to Asia for turtle soup.

Scott and Donna McCardell saw a chance to get in on an industry of the future.In rural Cecil County, where farming often means cattle or corn, the husband-and-wife team set out to raise fish. And when they joined forces with a longtime leader in the business -- the chairman of the state's advisory panel on aquaculture, no less -- they confidently bet virtually everything they owned on the venture."It wasn't going to make us rich," said Donna McCardell, "but it was going to be a nice, comfortable living."

Watermen's trade showLearn about Maryland's proposed oyster restoration plan, blue crab industry, drift gill-netting and Chesapeake Bay aquaculture at the 23rd Annual East Coast Commercial Fishermen's and Aquaculture Trade Expo this weekend at the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury.The three-day event sponsored by the Maryland Watermen's Association will showcase the latest in products and services and include seminars for watermen, marine industry employees, potential aquaculturists and the general public.

DIEN BIEN PHU, Vietnam -- Hoang Thi Mai, a sweet-faced mother of four, removes her rubber thongs and slips fully clothed into a large pond twice a week to do battle for a slippery, wiggling tilapia, a fish native to Africa with the delicate taste of flounder. It will be supper for her extended family of eight in a single-room home of mud and thatch in Vietnam's verdant northern mountains.More than a meal, the fat black fish also symbolizes the first step in a solution to one of the globe's most enduring problems.

PRINCESS ANNE -- Tony Mazzaccaro last week peered through a microscope lens, searching for an elusive killer. "I just don't see it," he said. "Looks like I won't have to nuke the pond after all."This time.Mazzaccaro, owner of the Hyrock fish farm by the Manokin River in Somerset County, was looking for a microorganism that might have been responsible for killing 8,000 of his hybrid striped bass in early August. A year earlier, a microbe may have killed 23,000 of his farm's adult bass.Both times, he had to "nuke" several of his fish ponds -- treat them with chemicals to clean them of harmful organisms.

Brandon Dawson's science project slipped through his fingers and swam away in the cool, clean waters of Morgan Run.Aquaculture is catching on fast in Maryland schools. At least 26 high schools in the state teach the raising of fish as a form of farming.But more teachers are learning to use fish as a medium for science classes -- from elementary to college-preparatory research courses such as the one Brandon, 17, took at South Carroll High School."With aquaculture, you can do all aspects of science," said Robert Foor-Hogue, the science teacher at South Carroll who has pioneered using fish in class.

Students from South Carroll High School have approval to design and construct the only student exhibit at Columbus Center, the $147 million marine biotechnology complex at the Inner Harbor.Robert Foor-Hogue's science research classes have been working for more than a year on a proposal after an invitation from J. Adam Frederick, marine education specialist at the center.Frederick, a former high school science teacher in Frederick County, knew of Foor-Hogue's pioneering use of aquaculture -- raising fish -- as a medium for teaching scientific research.

Don't mess with oceans to produce more fishOne need not be an environmental Cassandra to quiver with fear after reading Dennis T. Avery's recent suggestion that the time is ripe to manipulate the oceans to produce more fish. His commentary (April 4, ''Should we fertilize the oceans for fishing?") relates to recent experiments in which the introduction of a half-ton of iron into the ocean resulted in a forty-fold increase in production over a 200-square-mile area.He proposes the application of iron to ''renew the oceans' abundance.

These days, there's more to a school science experiment than growing beans in a cup of potting soil or studying the habits of goldfish.For science research students at South Carroll High School, experiments mean simulating life cycles within the confines of a mini-warehouse and using computers to develop and operate systems that support and preserve aquatic and plant life."

WITH human population growth showing no signs of slowing, many people -- ordinary citizens as well as decision makers -- have begun to wonder how we shall feed the future.One response that always seems to generate enthusiasm is fish farming, or aquaculture.On the surface, it is easy to see why this age-old industry might offer practical cures to current dilemmas. With world fisheries exploited at unsustainable levels, and world protein demand on the rise, aquaculture holds the promise of feeding vast numbers of people with relatively small inputs of energy and capital.

CASTLE HAVEN-- -- Down a one-lane road past barren fields teeming with squawking Canada geese is something that hasn't been found on the Eastern Shore for more than two decades - a river filled with oysters. And Kevin McClarren knows how many are there, because he and his crew have planted every single one. Five million healthy oysters on 3,000 floats on the water's surface, with anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 oysters each. Every day, McClarren and his four workers - all of whom have degrees in biology or marine science - wade into the water, each with multiple layers of sweat shirts, to tend to their burgeoning crop.

A bill designed to outlaw the trapping of Maryland's diamondback terrapin, which is threatened by a growing market in China, could be weakened by an exemption tentatively approved yesterday. The state Senate voted 27-19 to amend the proposed ban to allow the continued trapping and possession of the turtles for aquaculture. Supporters said the change was designed to protect a Preston waterman who has started breeding thousands of the turtles in tanks behind his home for sale to Asia for turtle soup.

WASHINGTON -- This month, a pivotal article published in Science magazine warned of the risk of depleting the world's seafood supply if current fishing practices remain unchanged. The article came on the heels of a long-awaited report from the Institute of Medicine calling attention to the health benefits of seafood and arguing that Americans should eat seafood for its abundance of lean protein and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. How can we ensure these human health benefits with seafood stocks facing such a vulnerable future?

An Eastern Shore judge has rejected a property owner's claim that the state should not have leased land on the bottom of Chincoteague Bay to a fledgling aquaculture business that has been raising clams in the bed. David and Jena Harvey, Pennsylvania residents who own property in Girdletree, had argued that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources had no right to let Steve and Christy Gordon use the public bottom to grow clams. Worcester County Circuit Judge Theodore R. Eschenburg Sr. threw out the claim, though he agreed with the Harveys' contention that the state surveyed the property incorrectly and that the Gordons would have to give up the bed - at least until DNR can resurvey it. DNR officials said they believe Gordon can keep the clams on the bed for 90 days while a survey is done.

CAMBRIDGE -- Andrew Lazur had no trouble finding Nemo. Helping the lovable little clown- fish grow in captivity was a bit harder. Lazur, an associate professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, has been perfecting techniques for growing Amphiprion ocellaris - Nemo's scientific name - more easily in a hatchery, reducing the need to raid fragile coral reefs to stock aquariums with the fish, which is prized for its coloring and...

Candy colors In yet another move toward globalization, the makers of M&M's candies are asking citizens from 75 countries to vote on a matter of utmost importance - a new M&M's color. Candidates in the running are pink, violet and aqua. One will be selected in June to join six existing colors. Fans can vote by logging on to gcv.mms.com or calling 877-MM-GLOBE before May 31. Mad for mussels You'll find no shortage of ideas on how to prepare mussels, thanks to a new Web site from the Great Eastern Mussel Farms, the largest mussel aquaculture grower in the United States.

ELKTON - A Cecil County family whose venture into fish farming failed when thousands of the fish died has filed a lawsuit charging its lender and the former chairman of the state's Aquaculture Advisory Committee with fraud. Scott and Donna McCardell, whose dispute with state aquaculture officials was described last year in The Sun, claim in their lawsuit that Aberdeen fish farmer Douglas C. Burdette Jr., the former chairman of the state's aquaculture advisory panel, sold them a defective system of tanks and filters.

University of Maryland scientists have figured out how to make commercially valuable fish spawn and grow to market size in a closed system, a discovery that could lead to a flourishing inner-city aquaculture industry. A team from the university's Center of Marine Biotechnology at the Columbus Center downtown successfully raised gilthead sea bream, a popular Mediterranean fish, in tanks filled with treated tap water in a Fells Point warehouse. The principles they used can be applied to mass produce other fish species, taking the fishing pressure off those in the wild, Yonathan Zohar, the center director, said at a news conference yesterday to announce the discovery.

Scott and Donna McCardell saw a chance to get in on an industry of the future.In rural Cecil County, where farming often means cattle or corn, the husband-and-wife team set out to raise fish. And when they joined forces with a longtime leader in the business -- the chairman of the state's advisory panel on aquaculture, no less -- they confidently bet virtually everything they owned on the venture."It wasn't going to make us rich," said Donna McCardell, "but it was going to be a nice, comfortable living."

Students from South Carroll High School have approval to design and construct the only student exhibit at Columbus Center, the $147 million marine biotechnology complex at the Inner Harbor.Robert Foor-Hogue's science research classes have been working for more than a year on a proposal after an invitation from J. Adam Frederick, marine education specialist at the center.Frederick, a former high school science teacher in Frederick County, knew of Foor-Hogue's pioneering use of aquaculture -- raising fish -- as a medium for teaching scientific research.