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Washington
County aquaculture incubator moves forward with new
director
Maine Science and Technology Foundation
November 1, 2002
EASTPORT, Maine – Maine's network of applied technology
development centers gained new land-and-sea expertise
with the appointment of Scott Fraser as director of
the Aquaculture Technology Development Center (ATDC)
site at Washington County Technical College (WCTC).
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This
Cod's Not for Dinner
An
early October cod fishing expedition with (left
to right) Brian Kelshaw and Steve Eddy, both from
University of Maine's Center for Cooperative Aquaculture
Research in Franklin, Scott Fraser of WCTC, and
Reid Wilson, a local cod fisherman and storyteller.
Fraser
said the group caught 11 cod, which were transferred
to a live onboard tank then to the Franklin center
for use as brood stock. The Center hopes to develop
methods for raising cod in captivity.
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The
three-site aquaculture incubator also includes the Center
for Cooperative Aquaculture and the Darling Marine Center,
both managed by the University of Maine. The combination
of locations will offer unique water circulation systems
and conditions to accommodate diverse shellfish and
finfish clients along the Maine coast.
One
local company has already expressed interest in joining
the Eastport ATDC, said Fraser. Although Eastport is
known for its farmed salmon, Fraser said he expects
to sign up aquaculture ventures focusing on unusual
species and applications.
Fraser
joined WCTC this fall and teaches in the Maine outdoor
guide program, which covers terrestrial adventures and
outdoor skills for land-based businesses that serve
tourists. He first became interested in aquaculture
while teaching technology education at Shead High School,
where his wife is a biology and marine resources teacher.
Fraser worked with Shead students on a study, supported
by Maine Sea Grant and led by a Texas A&M University
professor, that used global positioning units to record
and measure tides in Cobscook Bay. Shead's marine resources
program includes a water system with tanks for raising
native salmon.
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MSTF
helps fund incubator
Funding
for the tanks and water lines came through a collaborative
grant to the University of Maine from the Marine
Technology Fund, administered by the Maine Science
& Technology Foundation.
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Many
of Fraser's first tasks at WCTC's aquaculture site will
keep him on land, working on permitting for new construction
to expand an existing lab building. The addition and
new water lines to carry salt water into land-based
tanks are still in the design phase, assuring that Fraser
will have an opportunity to use his architecture background.
WCTC hasn't yet broken ground for the addition but hopes
to accommodate tenants by summer 2003.
WCTC's
Eastport campus offers broad resources to the ATDC,
including Washington County's only concrete-decked pier
and The Boat School. Expertise in composite materials
should benefit aquaculture incubator tenants, said the
Boat School's Dean Pike, who has already discussed with
one company the advantages of using fiberglass to build
a mussel processing barge.
Although
low-tech by comparison, the nonabsorbent concrete surface
at the end of WCTC's pier helps prevent spread of infectious
salmon anemia (ISA), which was discovered in early 2001
to have sickened over a million farmed salmon in Cobscook
Bay. U.S. Department of Agriculture workers based at
WCTC plan to monitor Cobscook Bay for two years.
WCTC
received $200,000 through the Maine Department of Transportation
to shore up the pier, and local partners, including
WCTC, the city of Eastport, businesses, and individuals
contributed $130,000, according to John Miller, WCTC
director of public affairs. Miller said the pier is
a crucial component of the local infrastructure, playing
a role in marine services, excursions, and emergency
transportation.
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| Scott
Fraser, director of the Aquaculture Technology Development
Center site at Washington County Technical College |
WCTC's
aquaculture program serves regular WCTC students as
well as local industry, said Miller. After the ISA outbreak,
WCTC developed an eight-week professional development
course in fish science and fish farming math that taught
computerized fish feeding systems to 25 people.
Flexibility
is a key component at the new aquaculture incubator,
too, said Fraser, noting that programs will be customized
to fit local needs.
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