Frank Lopez

Shoreline erosion and resulting property damage can occur quickly during a storm event or over decades with sea-level rise and from human activities, including repeated shoreline modifications, dredging, and boating. The need to protect coastal properties and infrastructure against erosion and damage has increased with human populations along coastlines, with traditional, “gray” approaches, such as shoreline hardening, often having negative ecological, geophysical, and socioeconomic impacts on coastal communities and ecosystems. As coastal hazards and exposure to these hazards continue to increase, stakeholders need access to data, information, and expertise that can help them make informed decisions about coastal protection. Further, an interdisciplinary approach implemented in partnership with stakeholders is needed to translate data and technical information in a framework and format that directly facilitates coastal protection decisions. This proposal will co-develop (1) a coastal protection design and siting framework; and (2) living shoreline training courses and certification program for stakeholders, including coastal property owners, engineers, and contractors. The coastal protection framework and training courses will be co-developed through a partnership between North Carolina Sea Grant, East Carolina University, Carteret Community College, the North Carolina Coastal Reserve, and the North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF), leveraging data and findings from USCRP and NC Sea Grant-funded projects, as well as input from a diverse group of coastal stakeholders.

The North Carolina Sea Grant College Program integrates three university functions — research, education, and outreach — into a cohesive, innovative, program that addresses priorities of the state’s numerous coastal stakeholders. These stakeholders include but are not limited to: communities located along the 300 miles of oceanfront shoreline and those within the 20 counties designated by the Coastal Area Management Act; communities further inland and located in the watersheds that drain to the Atlantic Ocean; coastal and estuarine water- and landbased industries; and many others. North Carolina’s vast natural environmental resources including the 2.3 million acres of estuarine habitat are of important ecological, cultural, and economic significance for the entire state. North Carolina Sea Grant (NCSG) positions itself at this intersection of research, education, and outreach, working to ensure results are translated to actionable information in support of the varied stakeholders invested in the state’s coastal region. Taking discoveries, demonstrations, and experiential knowledge developed by experts and delivering those results to identified audiences is a model our program embodies. These efforts support improved understanding and appreciation of the watershed, near-shore, and coastal ocean environments and the sustainable use and development of their resources. We join other coastal and Great Lakes states in a national network of Sea Grant universities charged with meeting the needs of society in our home state, our regions, and the nation as a whole. In North Carolina, Sea Grant program activities began with an institutional planning and project grant in 1970. With the establishment of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system in 1972 and involvement of Duke University via a consortial arrangement, NCSG became the nation’s 12th recognized Sea Grant College in 1976. The UNC system has remained committed to Sea Grant throughout the program’s history, including state funding generously provided through North Carolina State University, supporting portions of cost-share match requirements for the federal award received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The NC Sea Grant program is submitting this scope for work for funding to support the placement of three water level sensors in the coastal region of North Carolina. In fulfillment of this scope of work, the NC Sea Grant extension team will lead a prioritization/scoping of the three sites and lead the engagement with selected communities. NC Sea Grant has direct ties to state level resilience initiatives and networks and will use this knowledge to inform siting.

To support NCSG’s mission, the extension program conducts targeted engagement, education, and extension to help coastal communities and stakeholders in the region address concerns and problems surrounding the development, use, and conservation of ocean and coastal resources. Therefore, key stakeholders served by the extension program include, but are not limited to, natural resource managers and professionals; the commercial, for-hire, and recreational fishing industries; aquaculture growers; seafood processors; restoration professionals; community planners and floodplain managers; government officials; tourism and visitors bureaus; landscaping industry; coastal property owners; and the general public.

North Carolina has a long, and now expanding, history of marine aquaculture production with NC Sea Grant providing leadership and resources to support the required extension and research investments needed for current sustainability and future growth of the industry. In earlier decades, those roles focused on finfish production. NC Sea Grant’s current efforts highlight the shift in the industry’s real and anticipated growth — and economic attention — to shellfish mariculture.

The aim of this proposed project is to establish a Sea Grant hub for striped bass aquaculture (StriperHub) that will overcome production barriers through demonstration and promotion of commercial culture production, economics, and marketing of striped bass in the U.S. The hub will be guided by a diverse community of multidisciplinary specialists and experts; NC Sea Grant will serve to coordinate the hub and will integrate with other Sea Grant programs, industry partners, government researchers and policymakers, and university scientists to consolidate and streamline commercialization efforts in various culture environments. The proposed project has four major overarching objectives toward establishing and disseminating the commercial production of striped bass through the Sea Grant StriperHub organized as follows: 1. Establish a Sea Grant Aquaculture Hub: A nexis to commercialize striped bass as a major aquaculture industry (The Sea Grant StriperHub); 2. Seed stock, distribution, grow-out, and production economics of domestic striped bass; 3. Marketing, market economics, permitting clarity, and business model development for domestic striped bass aquaculture; 4. Communication, outreach, extension, and training for striped bass aquaculture

This Plan of Work is for the Sea Grant FY 2018-2021 cycle. As per National Sea Grant Office guidelines, four-year extension proposals are forward-looking documents that focus on structure and plans. Accomplishments are reported, evaluated and reviewed as a part of the national assessment processes.¬ North Carolina Sea Grant began with an institutional grant in 1970, becoming nation’s 12th Sea Grant College Program in 1976. Since those earliest days, the North Carolina program has had a robust extension team that along with communications provides a nationally recognized outreach portfolio. The outreach team builds upon the solid, peer-reviewed scientific research, earning Sea the overall program a solid reputation as a reliable source for valid solutions and timely information about our coast and ocean. Sea Grant continues to provide a holistic approach to topics that have direct impacts not only along the N.C. coast, but also across the state and the country. North Carolina Sea Grant has headquarters in Raleigh, on the campus of NC State University that is close to state agencies and the Research Triangle. Sea Grant extension specialists and staff also are located in marine research centers located at southern, central and northern coastal locations. These locations connect the staff to academic scientists and allow for two-way exchange of research-based information and priority research topics. The coastal offices offer unique opportunities to connect with university and community partners. In some Sea Grant programs in the national network, educators are organized into a separate team. But in North Carolina, our marine education specialist is part of the overall extension team.

The North Carolina Sea Grant College Program integrates three university functions — research, education and outreach — into a cohesive, innovative, program that addresses priorities of the state’s numerous coastal communities. These include, but are not limited to: communities of individuals located along the 300 miles of oceanfront shoreline and those within the 20 counties designated by the Coastal Area Management Act; coastal and estuarine water- and land-based industries; the vast natural environmental resources including the 2.3 million acres of estuarine habitat that provide important ecological and cultural resources for the entire state. North Carolina Sea Grant (NCSG) positions itself at this intersection of research and outreach, working to ensure results are translated to actionable information in support of the varied stakeholders invested in North Carolina’s coast. Taking discoveries, demonstrations and experiential knowledge developed by experts and delivering those results to identified audiences is a model our program embodies. These efforts support improved understanding and appreciation of the near-shore and coastal ocean environment and the sustainable use and development of its resources. We join other coastal and Great Lakes states in a national network of Sea Grant universities charged with meeting the needs of society in our home state, our regions, and the nation as a whole.

Comprehensive, in-depth economic analyses of marine finfish growout production in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are lacking. The goal of this research is to develop a generalized spreadsheet economic model of a commercial land-based RAS facility that can be parameterized for alternative locations and scales of production. As an example, we will parameterize the model for black sea bass (a high-value, high-demand species), produced in coastal NC. The model will allow for the production facility to be scaled and configured in alternative ways and allow input of alternative values of the biological and economic parameters to accommodate other geographic areas and species. The financial performance of model growout production facilities would be measured by assessing farm input costs (e.g. labor, feed, energy, oxygen and bicarbonate consumption, waste treatment), duration of the production cycle, farm gate revenues and returns to owner per production cycle, break even prices, discounted payback period, modified internal rate of return, and cumulative net present value. Through sensitivity analyses, the economic analyses will assess the impacts on financial performance of recent advances in hatchery production of black sea bass fingerlings, more sustainable feeds that incorporate cheaper protein sources in replacement of fish meal, alternative grading practices, and higher safe stocking densities. The potential impacts of faster fish growth resulting from selective breeding over 5 generations will also be analyzed. Such information is critical to identify economic constraints and opportunities, to aid researchers, investors, and policy makers, and to accelerate commercial RAS production of marine finfish in the US.

North Carolina has one of the longest and most complex shorelines of any state along the east coast of the United States, with extensive inshore and estuarine areas that provide a wide range of shellfish growing conditions and lead to widely distributed support resources for shellfish mariculture efforts. This proposal addresses several program priorities including the provision of tools to address the knowledge gaps in business development, focusing on areas of marketing and economics for the shellfish cultivation industry in NC. We will develop tools that will provide industry participants with the resources they need to address and respond to volatile conditions (weather perturbations, uncertain markets, and varying demands). This effort takes steps to establish a business incubator that will provide mentorship for entry level and current farmers and utilizes diverse expertise to provide an online tool for farm business management. This goal addresses issues recognized by recent reports on addressing challenges to growing the shellfish culture industry in NC. Given the uncertain economic backdrop for 2020-2023 this effort will focus on providing resources with remote access options (either entirely or in part) to provide greater flexibility to industry participants. This is a 3 year effort that incorporates the expertise of the NC Sea Grant aquaculture extension, UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and researchers from UNCW’s Center for Marine Science to develop a business incubator to address the needs of the shellfish cultivation industry.