Project Grant 20204940032430

THIS WORK WILL DEVELOP A HIGHLY COLLABORATIVE NETWORK BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS IN HAWAII AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF TRAINING AND EXTENSION EFFORTS AND TO SHARE INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE. THE NETWORK WILL BE LED BY THE MARINE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF POHNPEI (MERIP) IN THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - PACIFIC AQUACULTURE AND COASTAL RESOURCES CENTER (UHH-PACRC, AN 1862 LAND GRANT INSTITUTION), THE HILO AQUACULTURE COOPERATIVE (HAC),KUA'INA ULU 'AUAMO (KUA)ANDTHE AMERICAN SAMOA COMMUNITY COLLEGE AIMS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF BEGINNING AQUACULTURE FARMERS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE REGIONS IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING NEW FARMING PRACTICES AND DIVERSIFICATION TO EXISTING BEGINNING AQUACULTURE FARMERS. THE PROJECT ADDRESSES PRIMARILY THE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES A) BASIC LIVESTOCK, FOREST MANAGEMENT AND CROP FARMING PRACTICES AND G) DIVERSIFICATION AND MARKETING STRATEGIES AS OUTLINED IN THE FY20 REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THIS PROGRAM.IN ADDITION, MORE THAN 90% OF BEGINNING FARMERS TARGETED BY THE APPLICATION ARE SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED PACIFIC ISLANDERS, NATIVE HAWAIIANS OR IMMIGRANTS. WHILE SEPARATED BY VAST OCEAN DISTANCES THE ISLAND ENTITIES INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT SHARE MANY SIMILARITIES SUCH AS NASCENT AQUACULTURE INDUSTRIES, HIGH VALUE NICHE MARKETS AND A HIGH PROPORTION OR INDIGENOUS OR ETHNIC POPULATIONS.GEOGRAPHICALLY ALL THESE ENTITIES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY SMALL LAND MASSES SURROUNDED BY ENORMOUS AREAS OF OCEAN SURFACE AND MOSTLY POLLUTION FREE ENVIRONMENTS.THERE IS A STRONG OVERLAP IN THE CLIMATE, CULTURE AND COMMODITIES THAT CAN BE AQUACULTURED BETWEEN THE ENTITIES.MERIP, WHICH IS BASED ON POHNPEI, THE CAPITOL ISLAND OF THE FSM IS AN IDEAL ORGANIZATION FOR LEADING THIS EFFORT. WITH MORE THAN 15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DEVELOPING AQUACULTURE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE REGION AND A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF TRAINING, ESTABLISHING AND SUPPORTING BEGINNING AQUACULTURE FARMERS.TECHNOLOGIES AND TRAINING MODULES EXIST FOR FOUR TYPES OF COMMODITIES: LIVE CORALS AND GIANT CLAMS FOR THE MARINE ORNAMENTAL TRADE; TWO SPECIES OF BATH SPONGES; AND SUSTAINABLE CAPTURE-BASED FARMING OF RABBITFISHES (SIGANUS SPP.).MERIP WILL ACT AS THE CENTRAL LOCATION FOR TRAINING AND OUTREACH FOR THE FSM PORTION OF THE WORK, IN ADDITION TO HOSTING TRAINING EVENTS FOR THE PARTNER ENTITIES.LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS FROM THREE VILLAGES WORK ALONGSIDE MERIP STAFF AND THESE COMMUNITIES FULLY SUPPORT AQUACULTURE ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED BY MERIP AND HAVE BEEN ENGAGED IN WORKING WITH MERIP SINCE ITS INCEPTION.A MANAGEMENT PLAN DEVELOPED BY THE COMMUNITY IN 2013 ENDORSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE AS A MECHANISM FOR INCOME GENERATION AND CONSERVATION OF FISHERIES.TODAY, APPROXIMATELY 30 OF THESE COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE NOW WORKING ON THEIR OWN FARMS WITH SUPPORT AND TRAINING FROM MERIP.THE NEED FOR FARM AND BEGINNING FARMER EXPANSION STILL EXISTS IT IS HOPED TO DOUBLE FARMER ENGAGEMENT DURINGTHE 2-YEAR GRANT PERIOD BEING PROPOSED, IN ADDITION TO SUPPORTING MANY EXISTING BEGINNING FARMERS.THE LEAD ORGANIZATION FOR WORK IN HAWAII AND AMERICAN SAMOA IS THE UHH-PACRC.THIS ORGANIZATION IS CENTRAL TO AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT BOTH IN HAWAII AND BROADER PACIFIC REGION AND HOSTS A NUMBER OF STUDENTS FROM THE INSULAR PACIFIC ISLANDS.THE FACILITY HAS TWO STATE-OF-THE-ART MARINE FISH REARING HATCHERIES IN ADDITION TO EDIBLE OYSTER SPAT PRODUCTION FACILITIES.FRESH WATER FISH FARMING AND AQUAPONICS TRAINING MODULES ARE ALSO ACCESSIBLE CLOSE TO THE MAIN FACILITIES.THE UHH-PACRC WILL BE THE MAIN TRAINING CENTER FOR WORK ON HAWAII AND WILL ALSO BE THE SITE OF EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES THAT WILL TAKE PLACE DURING THE PROJECT. THE PACRC AND THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII SEA GRANT PROGRAM HAVE FORMED THE UH CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES MERIP AS A PARTNER. ONE OF ITS GOALS IS TO RESTORE THE STATEWIDE EXTENSION COVERAGE IN ORDER TO PROMOTE AND SUSTAIN AQUACULTUREAT ALL LEVELS. IN AMERICAN SAMOA THE LEAD ORGANIZATION WILL BE THE AMERICAN SAMOA COMMUNITY COLLEGE WHICH HOSTS THECENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE, INTEGRATED AGRICULTURE AND AQUACULTURE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HAWAI'I SEA GRANT.A SECONDARY PARTNER, THE AMERICAN SAMOA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN TRAININGS AND ASSIST WITH OUTREACH AND COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES IN AMERICAN SAMOA.THE THREE LOCALES UNDER CONSIDERATION AND THEIR STAKEHOLDERS HAVE MANY COMMUNALITIES IN TERMS OF GOALS, CONSTRAINTS, POTENTIAL AND SPECIES. CONDUCTING OUTREACH AND TRAINING IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS HAS ALWAYS INVOLVED MAKING ACCOMMODATION FOR THE EXPANSIVE GEOGRAPHIC DISTANCES AND HIGH TRAVEL COSTS. THE LONG-TERM ISSUES THAT WILL BE CREATED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ONLY EMPHASIZE THE NEED TO DEVELOP EXTENSION METHODS THAT REQUIRE LESS TRAVEL AND LESS PHYSICAL PRESENCE.THIS WORK WILL COMBINE DIRECT AND INDIRECT FARMER-TO-FARMER CONTACT AND NETWORKING SO THAT DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AQUACULTURE BUSINESSES WILL BE ACCELERATED THROUGH THE SHARING OF EXPERTISE AND LESSONS LEARNED.IT HAS ALSO BEEN SHOWN THAT WHEN FARMERS ARE ENGAGED AS ASSISTANT TRAINERS, LEARNING IS ALSO ENHANCED FOR PARTICULAR SKILLS.THE CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO THIS PROJECT WILL BE SIMILAR TO THAT SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYED BY LAND GRANT UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES - COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION. INITIATED BY THE MORRILL ACT OF 1862 AND FORMALIZED BY THE SMITH-LEVER ACT IN 1914.AT THE CORE OF THE SUCCESS TO THESE PROGRAMS ARE TWO MAIN THEMES: DEVELOPING PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH KNOWLEDGE; AND GIVING INSTRUCTION AND PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION OF EXISTING OR IMPROVED PRACTICES OR TECHNOLOGIES. ADDITIONALLY, THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED WILL NOT JUST FOCUS ON THE BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS BUT WILL ENCOMPASS SUCH TOPICS AS MARKETING AND PERMITTING. THE LATTER TOPIC CONTINUES TO BE A MAJOR IMPEDIMENT TO AQUACULTURE FARM START-UPS.IN POHNPEI, MERIP WILL BE THE CENTRAL ORGANIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO THE COMMUNITIES BY A TEAM OF EXTENSION AGENTS, WHO WILL ALSO BE ASSISTED BY COMMUNITY-BASED PARA-EXTENSION AGENTS. WHERE APPLICABLE, THE PARA-EXTENSION AGENTS WILL RUN PILOT PROJECTS IN THE COMMUNITIES WITH OVERSIGHT AND ASSISTANCE FROM MERIP EXTENSION AGENTS. WORK WILL INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE FARMERS IN KEY COMMODITIES: CORALS AND GIANT CLAMS FOR THE MARINE ORNAMENTAL TRADE; BATHING SPONGES; AND LOCALLY CONSUMED RABBITFISHES.IN AMERICAN SAMOA AND HAWAII EFFORTS WILL FOCUS ON TILAPIA AND EDIBLE BIVALVE FARMING WITH TRAINING TAKING PLACE THROUGH HANDS ON TRAINING AND DEMONSTRATION.THE PACRC AND THE UH SEA GRANT PROGRAM ALSO WORK CLOSELY WITH KUA'INA ULU 'AUAMO, A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION SERVING ALL INHABITED HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. KUA'INA ULU 'AUAMO (KUA) MEANS "GRASSROOTS GROWING THROUGH SHARED RESPONSIBILITY, " AND THIS ORGANIZATION WORKS TO EMPOWER COMMUNITIES TO IMPROVE THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH CARING FOR THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE. KUA EMPLOYS A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN APPROACH THAT CURRENTLY SUPPORTS A NETWORK OF OVER 40 FISHPONDS AND FISHPOND COMPLEXES.CROSS SITE VISITS AND TRAININGS WILL OCCUR IN BOTH YEARS OF THE PROJECT ANDDURING THE VARIOUS TRAINING EVENTS, FARM VISITS AND FARMER EXCHANGES, EXTENSION SPECIALISTS AND THE PARA-EXTENSION AGENTS WILL WORK WITH THE FARMERS AND LOCAL STUDENTS TO FILM KEY ASPECTS OF THE TRAINING WITH THE STUDENTS AND FARMERS NARRATING OR BEING INTERVIEWED.WHERE POSSIBLE, BOTH ENGLISH AND THE LOCAL LANGUAGE WILL BE USED. MANY PARTICIPANTS ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE SOME CAPACITY FOR PLAYING MUSIC (COMMON IN THE ISLANDS), WHICH CAN BE USED AS BACKGROUND MUSIC. THESE SHORT VIDEOS WILL BE USED ON INTERNET SITES AND ADAPTED FOR USE ON MOBILE PHONES.ALL THREE ISLAND GROUPS HAVE PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISIONS CHANNELS WHICH ARE POPULAR.