Oceanic Institute

Programs: Shrimp program - oi's shrimp program has been developing technologies for sustainable shrimp production for over 30 years. Oi was the first organization to develop a specific pathogen free (spf) population of pacific white shrimp (litopenaeus vannamei) in 1991, and the first to develop a family based shrimp breeding program in 1995. In 1998, oi began developing environmentally sustainable, recirculating aquaculture system (ras) technology for super-intensive shrimp production using high stocking densities and very low water exchange. An important goal of oi's shrimp program is to provide products, technologies, and services to the us and global shrimp farming industries. Today > 90% of the world's farmed shrimp is domesticated l. Vannamei and many of these shrimp can trace their genetic origins back to oi's shrimp breeding program. During the last year, oi's shrimp program distributed 106,070 spf shrimp to us shrimp farmers, as well as to research and educational organizations in the us, and 223,200 spf shrimp to farmers overseas. In addition, oi's commitment to information dissemination was reflected in its publications in peer-reviewed journals and industry trade magazines, as well as the numerous presentations at regional and international conferences. Oi's shrimp program is dedicated to developing and transferring sustainable shrimp production technologies to local, domestic, regional, and global industry stakeholders.

aquatic feeds & nutrition program (afn program) - the goal of the afn department is to develop practical feeds to support sustainable food production globally, but with a more recent emphasis on hawaii and us-affiliated pacific islands. Local aquaculture and terrestrial animal production in the pacific region is limited and contributes to a very small portion of overall food supply. Imported animal products pose a major challenge to food security and food safety for these island communities. This is an especially critical issue in times of food shortages, energy crises, and global climate change. Afn research is focused on identifying, defining, and testing locally available plant and animal by-products for their nutritional composition and bioavailability in terrestrial and aquatic animal feeds. Utilization of co-products or by-products from agriculture, biofuel and fishery processing industries for feed production is also one of the major research focuses. Afn research seeks to define nutrient requirements of local aquaculture species which are cultured in hawaii and the us-affiliated pacific islands, including pacific threadfin (moi) and pacific white shrimp. Animal feeds research includes processing research to produce nutritionally complete diets for evaluation, and testing the effectiveness of feeds produced on a commercial pilot scale through collaboration with university and commercial partners. Accomplishments for the past year include the development of locally made diet formulations for abalone (enzo), opihi (limpet), tilapia, and pacific threadfin (moi). Recent research has shown that our locally made formulation for abalone is competitive to imported feed, which is imported from south africa. We have also established low fishmeal formulation for moi culture and a non-fishmeal shrimp feed by using duckweed protein. In addition, selective local ingredients with significant local production have been tested for their nutritional compositions and digestibility in tilapia.

the center for tropical and subtropical aquaculture (ctsa) was established in 1986 to promote sustainable commercial aquaculture of tropical and subtropical species within the us and the us-affiliated pacific islands. Ctsa supported 18 projects during the period from 7/1/2013 to 12/31/2013, including five new projects and eight projects that reached completion. Results have provided valuable information on the culture of opihi, including dietary requirements, resulting in development of an artificial feed. Aquaponics technology has been refined and transferred to commercial producers in hawaii and american samoa, where a farm built as a result of ctsa support is providing vegetables for the school lunch program. In palau, a mangrove crab hatchery was established, and crablets are now available for distribution to farmers and resource managers for wild stock restoration. Using confidential census data, researchers analyzed the performance of hawaii's aquaculture industry and found, among other things, that labor is the most critical input factor on aquaculture farms (accounting for over 42% of production costs), and only 12% of farms (in 2007) may be classified as efficient. New knowledge about the epidemiology of francisella, the bacteria responsible for fno disease in tilapia, has been gained and shared with industry stakeholders through workshops, publications, and on-farm mitigation. Finally, under the publications project, pertinent aquaculture information was disseminated to industry stakeholders, including farmers, researchers, and students. For the past 28 years, ctsa has funded 249 projects addressing national aquaculture priorities, information dissemination, marketing and economics, development of new technologies, and demonstration and adaption of known technologies.

finfish program - oi's finfish program is working to develop core technologies in broodstock, live feeds, and hatchery-based production methods for marine finfish species from hawaii and u. S. -affiliated pacific islands. The overall goal of this program is to develop sustainable technologies to reduce pressure on wild populations while increasing marine resources both for human consumption and to increase the sustainability of the global aquarium trade. In addition to providing seed stock to local industry stakeholders in hawaii, this last year saw major advances in the development of novel hatchery technologies using a locally isolated zooplankton, known as copepod, to rear challenging coral reef fish species. Using this technology, oi's finfish program made significant progress in the rearing of the yellow tang, the most highly sought after hawaiian reef fish, as an alternative to the present reliance on wild collection. This year, the program also rekindled its mullet fingerling production efforts in support of hawaiian fishponds across the state and partnered with the state of hawaii and the nature conservancy to assist in the production of sea urchins for invasive algae removal.