2004 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? Even though abundant natural resources appear to represent potential development opportunities across the Appalachian region, production figures indicate that the Mid-Atlantic Highlands has not participated in the general expansion of aquaculture in the U.S. Most of the aquaculture production in this part of the country is derived from small-scale fish producers. Such farmers face several constraints, including insufficient water quality, lack of certification for interstate distribution, lack of veterinary services, poor market acceptance of certain fish products, and low efficiencies of scale in production and distribution. To support the ARS National Aquaculture Program (106) objectives, CVI will conduct relevant basic and applied research and technology transfer that will improve the sustainability of U.S. aquaculture and create jobs and economic activity, primarily in rural areas. To accomplish this, CVI will initiate an applied research program consisting of four components: 1) Construction of a comprehensive GIS database featuring thematic data layers relevant to aquaculture in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands. 2) Design of an integrated systems simulation model that would explicitly define interrelationships among pertinent physical, social, and economic system variables. 3) Outreach to the aquaculture community in order to obtain real-world input and feedback for the GIS database and the simulation model. 4) Testing of the systems model through a pilot study to parameterize and validate the model development. CVI cannot quantify the severity of the problem relative to the rest of the country. However, several requests for help from small producers in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands, on issues such as: identifying markets for their products, tailoring their production to maximize the return on investment and defining the technical aspects of production, processing and marketing that they cannot identify on their own, demonstrates that there is a problem with the regional industry in its present state. The Mid-Atlantic Highlands aquaculture industry has the potential to become viable. In the process, it could create jobs and supplemental income for traditional farmers. 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. Year 1, FY2003 1. Initiate GIS database development, and determine the geographic area to be investigated. 2. Determine the existing and potential capability of established growers in the study area and the potential for new growers. 3. Determine the market potential for species currently being farmed, for potential candidate species, and possible value-added products. 4. Determine the viability of the existing production, processing and distribution industry. For example, growth, feed and revenue curves for a rainbow trout producer participating in a partial budget study with FWI on the effect of density reduction on gill disease outbreaks will be completed. 5. Determine to what extent changes to the regional industry might make it more profitable. FWI/CVI: Collaboration 6. The project to optimize production at the mid-Atlantic Highlands trout farm will be completed. Results and recommendations will be transferred to the producer and manuscripts will be submitted for publication. 7. The project to assay water supplies for F. branchiophilum will be completed. Results will be transferred to producers and a manuscript will be submitted for publication Year 2, FY2004 1. Based on a comprehensive plan conceptualize the initial simulation model and acquire expertise to build it. 2. Refine GIS data based on information gaps obtained during the collection phase. 3. Develop a simulation model for viable aquaculture industry. 4. Initiate a pilot program to test the simulation model generated by CVI. Year 3, FY2005 1. Use the simulation model to modify the existing sales and distribution network towards achieving maximum profit margin for growers. 2. Expand production capabilities for existing growers, and incorporate new technology developments, based on projections from the simulation model. 3. Assess validity of simulation model and refine it based upon pilot program results. 4. Explore potential for replicating model to other parts of the country, and Agriculture or forest related products. 5. Fully integrate GIS database with simulation modeling. 3.Milestones: A. List the milestones that were scheduled to be addressed in FY 2004. How many milestones did you fully or substantially meet in FY 2004 and indicate which ones were not fully or substantially met, briefly explain why not, and your plans to do so. The milestones listed above for FY 2004 are listed under year 2. The 1st and 2nd milestones listed have been fully met. The 3rd and 4th are in the process of being completed. In particular milestone 3, the development of a simulation model, will be completed by the end of FY 2004. Milestone 4, the initiation of a pilot program to test the model, is an on-going effort and will continue over the next two fiscal years. This program consists of research targeted at the value added food marketing industry and is being conducted in an effort at determining the possibility of offering greater prices to farmers at the gate for live fish, if a market can be developed for value added products, warranting higher prices. B. List the milestones that you expect to address over the next 3 years (FY 2005, 2006, & 2007). What do you expect to accomplish, year by year, over the next 3 years under each milestone? FY 2005 1. Use the simulation model to modify the existing sales and distribution network towards achieving maximum profit margin for growers. 2. Expand production capabilities for existing growers, and incorporate new technology developments, based on projections from the simulation model. 3. Assess validity of simulation model and refine it based upon pilot program results. FY 2006 1. Fully integrate GIS database with simulation modeling. 2. Deliver model to farmers, processors and distributors in form which is easy to use and directly applicable to their industry. 3. Expand model to include surrounding states in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands, including Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. FY 2007 1. Explore potential for replicating model to other parts of the country, and Agriculture or forest related products. 4.What were the most significant accomplishments this past year? A. Single most significant accomplishment during FY 2004: The most significant accomplishment during FY 2004 has been the successful completion of a rough draft of the GIS based simulation model which is being developed in collaboration with West Virginia University (WVU). This accomplishment is important since it is the first step towards the eventual completion of the model for the State of West Virginia, the first effort of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands, and should provide farmers in the region with a valuable tool towards defining a potential investment into the aquaculture business. B. Other significant accomplishment: One other major accomplishment for FY 2004 has been the successful completion of the BGD and production optimization project which Dr. Julie Bebak-Williams from the Freshwater Institute, under a contract agreement with CVI, had been working on over the last two fiscal years. C. Significant activities that support special target populations. None D. Progress Report: In order to fully evaluate the assumptions built into the model, CVI has agreed to lease the fish processing facility, formerly owned by Mountain Aquaculture and Producers Association (MA&PA) from PRO (Parsons Revitalization Organization), a non-profit organization whose mission is to create jobs in rural communities. The processing facility will allow CVI to test the assumptions into the model by researching the market acceptance for specialty products made from farmed West Virginia fish. In the process, CVI will evaluate the economics behind for farmers selling fish into the food market versus the recreational market. The precise dates during which CVI will sign the proposed lease have not been confirmed due to certain legal obstacles related to MA&PA's bankruptcy proceedings. The GIS based simulation model for the State of West Virginia is in the process of being completed. Specific matrixes related to defining production, transportation, market costs and expenses are being built and will accompany the model. The transportation matrix, which has been completed, will help define the costs associated with trucking live or processed fish from a producer or processor to an end user. This analysis is in spread sheet form and will be made available to farmers and processors on the web or in software form. The collaboration between CVI and the Freshwater Institute towards the production optimization study and the Bacterial Gill Disease analysis has been completed. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. A comprehensive and coupled GIS database/simulation model of aquaculture systems in a sub-region of the Mid-Atlantic Highlands, designed and parameterized to reflect existing conditions is being developed. Use of this model will lead to a prioritized list of constraints and research opportunities for the enhancement of aquaculture within the Mid-Atlantic Highlands. Further, a 'decision tree' (model or models) will be developed to enable small fish farmers to choose among alternate markets, species (including non-aquatic species), facilities, farming methods, transportation modes, product presentations, pricings, and other factors. Thus, a farmer would have a decision tool to optimize his or her total operation. This accomplishment addresses milestones 1-3 in FY2004 and also the Production Intensity goals under the program component of Aquaculture Production Systems in the National Aquaculture Program Action Plan. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? None. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. Borisova T., D'Souza G., Miller D. and C. Zabriskie. 2004. A Geographic Analysis of Marketing Strategies for WV Aquaculture Producers. Selected paper accepted for presentation at the 4th Southern Forestry and Natural Resource Management GIS Conference - SOFOR GIS 04, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, December 16-17, 2004. [Link to the conference: http://www.gactr.uga.edu/conferences/2004/Dec/16/CallforPapers.pdf]. 2 Departmental Working Papers: Borisova, T., G. D'Souza, D. Miller, and C. Zabriskie. Optimum Shipment Patterns for West Virginia Aquaculture Products-PART I: Growers. West Virginia University, Division of Resource Management Working Paper RESMWP-04-01. June 2004. 31 pp. [http://www.cafcs.wvu.edu/resm/publications/RESMWP.html]. Borisova, T., G. D'Souza, D. Miller, and C. Zabriskie. Optimum Shipment Patterns for West Virginia Aquaculture Products-PART II: Processors. West Virginia University, Division of Resource Management Working Paper RESMWP-04-02. June 2004. 30 pp. [http://www.cafcs.wvu.edu/resm/publications/RESMWP.html].