Equipped with a four-year, $924,280 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Researcher Cheng-Sheng Lee seeks to find how aquaculture can contribute to food security and what projects could potentially improve Hawaiʻi’s international competitiveness in aquaculture.
“Our task is to enhance viable and profitable aquaculture development in Hawaiʻi and U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia,” said Lee, executive director of the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA), under the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences. “First, we’ll work with the industry to identify the bottlenecks for further expansion of food production from our water resources. Then, we’ll identify research teams to tackle the issue and provide solutions to the industry to improve their operations.”
NIFA’s Regional Aquaculture Centers support aquaculture research, development, demonstration and extension education to enhance viable and profitable U.S. aquaculture to benefit consumers, producers, service industries and the American economy.
The CTSA, which is jointly administered by CTAHR and the Oceanic Institute of Hawaiʻi Pacific University, supports research and extension activities that develop and transfer new and adapted technology to industry in Hawaiʻi and the American Insular Pacific. Each project is reviewed by a panel of experts to ensure its approach is scientifically sound and its results will directly or indirectly enhance economic opportunities for aquaculture producers in the CTSA region.
“We are looking forward to working with our industry and researchers to contribute to our food security and economy in Hawaiʻi and the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands,” said Lee.
