Arizona Aquaculture Arid Lands The University Association Fish Production of Arizona ______________________________________________________________________ Vol. V. No 2. A Joint Publication of Aquaculture Activities October, 1996 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Published by the Kevin Fitzsimmons, Editor College of Agriculture and ALFP96-2 P hone 520-741-1990 the Arizona Aquaculture FAX 520-573-0852 Association Web Site http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The University of Arizona College of Agriculture Shantz Building, Room 429 Tucson, Az 85721 _______________________________________________________________________ 1. FISH PRODUCTION FIELD DAY --- NOVEMBER 14, 1996 2. STREP INFECTIONS AND TILAPIA -- What you should know! 3. CONGRATULATIONS TO HIGH SCHOOL AQUACULTURE PROGRAMS 4. ECONOMICS REPORT 5. FUTURE EVENTS CALENDAR The Aquaculture Field Day, November 14, 1996 at the Maricopa Agriculture Center, is open to all those interested in the aquaculture industry in Arizona. The field day will offer an overview of aquaculture industry in our state as well as the Western United States. We are fortunate to have several representatives from the Western Regional Aquaculture Center who will be able to provide us with insight to aquaculture research and industry developments. We are especially fortunate to have Mr. Leo Ray from Idaho as a guest speaker. Mr. Ray is widely recognized as one of the most innovative and successful fish producers in the country. He currently grows catfish, tilapia, trout, sturgeon and alligators at his Fish Breeders of Idaho farms. He processes and markets through his company Fish Processors, Inc. Leo will speak first about how he developed his vertically integrated operation and later on how to develop niche markets and then how to expand. University of Arizona scientists will be presenting results from some their research and be available for questions and discussions regarding their present and future efforts. Representatives from the Departments of Wildlife and Fisheries, Veterinary Science, Soil, Water and Environmental Science as well as Cooperative Extension and the Experimental Station will be present. At the conclusion of the University sponsored activities the Arizona Aquaculture Association will be holding their annual meeting. All those attending the Field Day are invited and encouraged to attend the Association Meeting as well. AGENDA - NOVEMBER 14, 1996 MARICOPA AGRICULTURE CENTER 9:00 - 9:30 Registration of participants. Morning Program Master of Ceremonies Dr. Merle Jensen, Assistant Dean, College of Agriculture. 9:30 - 10:00 Western Regional Aquaculture Committee. Dr. Kenneth Chew, Director of WRAC and School of Fisheries, University of Washington. Dr. William Herschberger, Incoming Director of WRAC. 10:00 - 10:30 Problems with Wastes from Aquaculture Facilities. Dr. Raul Piedrahita, Professor, University of California-Davis. 10:30 - 11:00 Successful Production Systems. Mr. Leo Ray, Fish Breeders of Idaho, Inc. 11:00 - 11:30 Maricopa Agricultural Center Demonstration Farm Fish Production Techniques. Mr. Tony Porti, Specialist in Aquaculture for the Demonstration Farm. 11:30 - 12:00 Maricopa Agricultural Center Fish Production Goals. Dr. Roy Rauschkolb, Resident Director, Maricopa Agricultural Center. 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch provided by the College of Agriculture. Afternoon Program Master of Ceremonies Dr. Eugene Maughan, Professor of Wildlife and Fisheries Science, School of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Agriculture 1:00 - 1:30 Niche Marketing of Fish. Mr. Leo Ray, Fish Processors, Inc. 1:30 - 2:00 Aquaculture Products Demand in the Western United States: a Brokers Perspective. Mr. Mike Salas, American Fish. 2:00 - 3:00 Producer Panel - Discussion on Problems, Needs, Successes and Failures in Arizona Fish Production. Panel Moderator, Mr. Kevin Fitzsimmons, Aquaculture Specialist for Cooperative Extension. Panel Members: Mr. Bill Stienke, Sweetwater Farms. Mr. Jimmy Joy, Blue River Hatchery. Mr. Dan Frimer, Gila River Farms. Mrs. Ci Brown, Browns Fish Farm. Each panel member will give a short presentation. Then the moderator will open the discussion for questions for questions from the audience. 3:00 - 3:10 The Arizona Aquaculture Association History and Goals. Mr. Jimmy Joy, President of the Arizona Aquaculture Association. 3:10 - 3:30 A closing question and answer period. 3:30 - open Arizona Aquaculture Association Meeting 2. STREP INFECTIONS AND TILAPIA -- What you should know! There have been several reports in the scientific and popular press recently regarding skin infections which have been a result of puncture wounds received while handling live tilapia. In the last several years many tilapia farmers around the world have reported losses of tilapia which have been attributed to a bacterial infection caused by Streptococcus iniae. This bacterium has also been shown to cause diseases in several other species of fish including striped bass, trout and several marine species. It now seems that the same bacterium has been transferred to humans and is responsible for serious infections requiring medical care. This summer several people in Toronto, Canada, who had purchased live tilapia to prepare at home, were admitted to local hospitals with skin infections in their hands. The infections were attributed to Streptococcus iniae, which was passed to the humans through open cuts or puncture wounds incurred while cleaning tilapia. The infections were quickly cured with common antibiotics. At this point it is unknown whether this is a new strain of Streptococcus bacteria or if it has always been present and this is the first time it has been described. The tilapia were grown in the United States and live-hauled to Toronto for sale in live markets. Medical authorities in Canada and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta have pointed out that the strep infection cannot be transferred by consuming the fish. The consensus of opinion from the CDC and seafood processors and is that proper handling of live and fresh whole fish including wearing plastic gloves will protect against infection. Virtually everyone who has handled live fish has been cut or punctured by fish spines. Many of you are familiar with the skin irritations that often result. The best advice is to remember to wear gloves when handling fish and to rinse fish with cold clean water before processing. For further information call Kevin Fitzsimmons at 741-1990. 3. CONGRATULATIONS TO HIGH SCHOOL AQUACULTURE PROGRAMS A special congratulation is in order to Estrella Mountain High School students, Kevin Mercado, Jaylee Miles, and Carla Standing Elk, who won the fourth place award at the 1996 International Science Fair. Their project, designing an incubation system for Tilapia eggs and fry, has already been instituted at the commercial farm on the reservation. The project was in competition with 1,067 participants from 41 countries. Estrella Mountain is one of the 13 high schools within Arizona with aquaculture programs. Joyce Baldwin at Estrella Mountain has developed a fine program with her students and we wish them continued success. 4. ECONOMICS REPORT A survey of state producers was conducted in conjunction with the last annual meeting of the Arizona Aquaculture Association. For 1995 the survey found that private sector aquaculture directly supported 44.5 Full Time Equivalent jobs and generated farm sales of $1,761,000 from 1.4 million pounds of fish. The farms reported expenditures of $2,162,000. The expenditures being greater than sales is a result of the investments being made at several farms. We expect that these investments will result in higher sales in the near future. Using the data obtained from the surveys and economic models that examine the effect of sales in one industry to the rest of the state, we determined that each dollar of sales from aquaculture facilities generates $1.6 of economic benefit (multiplier effect) to the state. Using another model developed by Dr. Mulligan at the University of Arizona we have determined that on average each new aquaculture job has a multiplier effect of 1.49 jobs to the local economy. 5. FUTURE EVENTS CALENDAR Feb. 19-23, 1997 World Aquaculture Meetings Seattle, WA Mar. 20-22, 1997 California Aquaculture Meeting Fresno, CA Nov. 9-12, 1997 International Symposium on Tilapia in Aquaculture Orlando, FL Jan. 1998 World Aquaculture Meetings Las Vegas, NV