Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Mississippi State University's Center for Aquatic Innovation and Technology (CATI) is requesting one-time assistance from USDA-NIFA to renovate and modernize one of the Nation's key aquaculture research facilities where both sponsored and unsponsored research activities and educational training take place. We believe CATI is an ideal candidate for a Research Facilities Act Program (RFAP) award as it has become worn with use and age, such that it cannot effectively support the needs of modern aquaculture research in the area for which the facility was intended. However, if repaired and renovated, CATI would continue to serve the needs of current and future producers, while providing continued training in state-of-the-art aquaculture research for a new generation of graduate students, undergraduate students, interns, visiting scientists, and faculty, thereby expanding the long-term impact of the facility.Aquaculture, including mariculture, is currently one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture in the United States with technological discoveries emerging at an accelerated pace. Moreover, the recent convergence of different disciplines in aquaculture (e.g., nutrition, physiology, disease and One Health, reproduction, genomics, and engineering), and the cross-fertilization that has characterized contemporary aquatic science within academic settings, have made collaboration at MSU a centerpiece of the last decade. As these new scientific opportunities and processes have emerged, Mississippi State's Aquaculture Research Facility requirements have also evolved and changed. However, CATI is quickly losing its usefulness as a cutting-edge facility for meeting today's educational and safety aquaculture standards; while the facility becomes antiquated, we are seeing a resurgent interest in aquaculture careers by newly registered freshman. The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture at MSU is experiencing a changing demographic with a greater racial and gender diversity of students entering our program and expressing interest in aquaculture as an agriculture career field. The department has a unique opportunity to create more career pathways for underserved and under-represented minority students interested in aquaculture positions within industry (e.g., catfish farm workers, processors, and mariculture positions), federal agencies (e.g., USDA-ARS, -APHIS, -FSIS, -USFS, -NRCS, -Wildlife Services), state fish hatcheries, and universities. However, a modern, renovated MSU aquaculture facility is critical for providing the most current and innovative technologies available that our graduates will be exposed to once they move into their new careers.Historically, CATI was an important player in aiding the development of the U.S. catfish industry from the 1970s to early 2000s. During this time, catfish (Ictalurus spp.) aquaculture rapidly developed and reached a peak in production acreage. Research conducted at the MSU facility played an important role in this growth and success by advancing studies on nutrition, disease, production, economics and water quality (e.g., algal toxicosis) . The need for a state-of-the-art, modernized building with increased research capacity has been identified as a priority by our commercial partners and stakeholders in the region, state and federal resource management agencies working in aquaculture, and MAFES has identified this building as one of its top urgencies for updating and is invested in matching the RFAP funds 1:1. Investing in the facility infrastructure and expanding the capacity of CATI is important to present and future aquaculture industry and aquatic natural resource sustainability. Thanks to work conducted at CATI, southeast catfish farmers are now producing their fish on less land for lower costs, while also reducing environmental impacts; yet there is still much to learn and a newer, modernized facility will help support a new era of students and faculty working together with producers.The condition of our 25-year old recirculating aquaculture experimental room (23' x 21') is such that it is too small to match current and expected volume for replicated studies and diversity of fish species needed and requires accessibility and safety upgrades. The facility has corroded electrical systems due to salt treatments over the years, broken seals between pipe fittings leading to various leaks in the system, and lacks a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system leading to excessive humidity and an inability to control temperature. The room is not ADA compliant and also needs upgrades to replace existing incandescent lights with modern LEDs, refreshment of tank life-support systems (e.g., filters, sumps, pumps, chillers) which have gone past their life-expectancy, and the installation of emergency remote monitoring systems. The facility also needs an essential electrical back-up system in the form of an adequate-capacity generator to provide animal life support to water and aeration systems during power outages. Moreover, our research and teaching laboratory next to the recirculating room is in need of refreshing and modernization such that it meets current safety standards, supports recruitment of a new cadre of students, and is ADA accessible. Improvements to the laboratory space will include painting, wider doors, wheelchair accessibility, and a new non-slip epoxy floor.This project will be important for meeting the present and future needs of a diverse group of stakeholders. Stakeholders identified that will benefit from this project include: (1) catfish producers, associated industry businesses and retailers; (2) regional, state, and national entities affiliated with aquaculture - see page 3 partners list; (3) graduate and undergraduate students training at the facility; (4) state and federal agencies that rely on CATI as a career pathway for trained professionals; (5) faculty that will be using the modernized and expanded space for research projects; and (6) the fish themselves will have improved welfare by providing enhanced security and safety from new and improved life-support systems. Regular interaction and continued feedback from the majority of stakeholders listed above have identified a critical need for the development of highly trained students, from diverse backgrounds and demographics, with hands-on skills that will be the future aquaculture workforce. These groups have been very pleased with students coming through the MSU program but have stressed the importance of remaining relevant as research needs change, and to provide a diversified and educated workforce at the regional, state, and national levels. For U.S. aquaculture and resource management agencies, the need for directed, relevant research and a diverse, trained workforce is important for stability and creating effective solutions. MSU is staged well for training a diverse workforce in aquaculture as the state has the highest relative proportion of Black Americans in residence (39%), according to the 2018 US census estimate, while the University demographics include 17.2% Black students and 3.5% Hispanic students. We have begun to see a greater proportion of minority students moving into aquaculture careers in the last couple of years and this project will help us to recruit, attract and retain a diverse group of students. For example, Co-Investigator Dr. Sandra Correa (herself a minority faculty member) has just accepted one of our Black undergraduate students, Breelyn Bigbee, as a new graduate student in 2024. Breelyn will be conducting aquaculture research at CATI and our hope is that she will enjoy a newly renovated and modernized aquaculture facility.
Animal Health Component
35%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
35%
Developmental
15%
Goals / Objectives
Our team proposes to utilize the RFAP funds to:(1) Renovate and double the size of the existing recirculating experimental aquaculture room at CATI.(2) Purchase and install permanently affixed new plumbing and life-support systems for monitoring and protection of fish in the new recirculating experimental aquaculture room.(3) Upgrade our critical building support systems including new electrical, HVAC, and back-up generator.(4) Modernize the teaching and research laboratory located within CATI.The program goals and associated objective(s) our RFAP will address: MSU's proposed infrastructure and modernization project is aligned with USDA's goal of providing new tools, funding and research that will help a diverse array of aquaculture producers adopt conservation practices and access new technologies, products and markets for fish. In particular, current and future research and education conducted at CATI will address the following 2022-2026 USDA-NIFA strategic mission goals and subheadings:Goal 2: Ensure America's Agricultural System is Equitable, Resilient, and Prosperous2.2: Build Resilient Aquaculture Food Systems, Infrastructure, and Supply Chains2.3: Foster Aquaculture InnovationGoal 3: Foster an Equitable and Competitive Marketplace for All Agricultural Producers3.2: Expand Markets for Emerging Technologies, Sustainable and Novel Aquaculture Products3.4: Expand International Marketing Opportunities and Build Aquaculture Demand in Developing Countries through Delivery of Technical Assistance and Capacity Building
Project Methods
Phase I: Demolition & Removal:Phase 1 will involve demolition & removal of existing experimental room including wood framing, wall panels, electrical conduit, lighting & plumbing. Prior to demolition, all existing tanks will be placed in storage & any fish will be temporarily transferred to our indoor holding tanks. In addition to the room demolition, 2 long, rectangular, concrete raceway tanks will be demolished & removed. These raceways are directly adjacent to the current experimental room & will allow us to nearly double the length of space. The current experimental room is 23'x21' in area, & the new space created will be 44'x21'. Two small, concrete raceways in the main aquaculture building will also be removed, along with associated electrical conduit & plumbing. These raceways are directly adjacent to a main roll-gate entry door. The area created by removal of the two raceways is 22'x5'. These raceways have limited usefulness for most species of fish. The majority of demolition for the raceways & experimental room will be conducted by a hired contractor, in addition to MAFES staff with access to heavy equipment, such as a front-end loader. We anticipate demolition will take 4-6 weeks.Phase 2: New Construction:The current experimental room will be expanded to nearly double its original size, to an area of 44'x21'. The interior framing will be composed of green-treat lumber, insulated, & covered with Trusscore water resistant PVC wall panels, the ceiling raised ~36" (currently a low ceiling <8'), & concrete floors will be coated with epoxy non-slip coating to improve safety & facilitate cleaning. New electrical conduit, LED lighting, & plumbing will be added to facilitate greater electrical demand in a safe format & easy connections to flow-through well-water. All construction will be done by an outside contractor who will bid on the job. Estimates from the MAFES engineer & several contractors used by the University helped us to arrive at the budget for this construction.A new outdoor concrete pad (15'x20') will be created adjacent to the expanded area of the experimental room. Equipment stored on the pad will include a new dehumidification & HVAC system for the experimental room to prevent excessive moisture & allow for interior climate control. Recirculating aquaculture system water treatment components (e.g., filters, pumps) will be placed on the concrete pad to create more space inside the room for tanks & animal holding & allow for heat dissipation from heat & circulation pumps to not affect the interior climate of the experimental room. Plumbing in outer walls adjacent to the room will be reconfigured to prevent susceptibility to freezing during extreme winter cold fronts. Installation of the outdoor HVAC equipment will be hired out to contractors, except for the life-support systems, which will be installed by our Aquaculture staff. The adjacent teaching room will be renovated to provide non-slip epoxy floor coating, new paint on walls, ADA compliant doorways, new chairs, & new tables. These changes are needed to provide a better learning environment & enhance opportunities for recruitment of a diverse workforce. We estimate construction to take approximately 8-12 months.Phase 3: Capacity Building:A 45-kW generator will be purchased to replace the existing 15-kW generator, which is >50 years old. The generator is essential to provide electricity during power outages, which are frequent in the area & can be catastrophic for loss of animal life & experimental investigations. The generator will include weather-resistant housing to prolong the life of the unit. The current capacity of the generator is insufficient for the main building, with many current tank systems not receiving emergency back-up power during an outage.In the expanded experimental room, a new, 10-tank (470-L, circular, fiberglass tanks) integrated RAS will be placed. Water treatment in this system will include a sump tank for large solids removal, a 3 cu foot propeller-washed beadfilter to facilitate mechanical & biological (denitrification) filtration, a 3'x3' header tank to provide constant pressure flow to all tanks, a moving bed bioreactor for additional denitrification (biological waste removal), an 80-W inline, ultraviolet light sterilizer to reduce potential for disease, a 5'x5' rectangular, insulated fiberglass reservoir tank, a 7-HP programmable heat pump to facilitate cooling or heating according to experimental needs, a 12 kW electric heater (for heating during winter months when the air-cooled heat pump is not as efficient), a regenerative blower to provide forced air via air stones placed in tanks, & 3 large water pumps to move water through the system (to header tank, from sump tank to bead filter & moving bed bioreactor, from water reservoir tank to heat pump & back again). The system will be outfitted with an emergency alarm system set to detect power outages, low water in the reservoir or header tank, or malfunction of the regenerative blower. A cloud-based fish farm management software system, like Aquaponics Tracker (Farmhub.com), will be incorporated into our new systems, allowing us to monitor fish health, while also showing students some of the newer AI technologies for next-gen aquaculture farming. Intuitive dashboards that can be accessed remotely on mobile devices allow rapid, real-time assessment of temperatures, pH, nitrate/nitrite & ammonia levels.The expanded experimental room will also house an integrated RAS with 10- & 30-gallon aquaria. This system is needed to provide for holding of small species of fish, expanding research in culture, conservation, & environmental genetics. The RAS will include a sump tank providing solids removal, a mechanical filter, a bead filter for biological filtration, an ultraviolet sterilizer to reduce disease, an inline heater & chiller to control temperatures to experimental specifications, connections to the regenerative blower used for the 10-tank system providing aeration, & two associated pumps for water movement through the system.The space created by removal of the two small concrete raceways (22'x5'), which is directly adjacent to one of the large roll-gate entry doors in the main facility building, will be used for holding fish brought into the facility as a quarantine location, & as flexible-use tanks for different life stages of fish. Three 4' diameter x 2' deep circular fiberglass tanks will be placed at this location along with a rectangular larval grow-out tank (5'x3.5'). Plumbing will consist of variable control valves to facilitate access to well water & electrical connections will allow for placement of automated feeders or water quality devices.Upgrades to existing aquaculture systems will also include installation of chillers & heaters, additional electrical connections, additional pumps, replacement with larger sump tanks, & installation of mechanical filtration units where needed, such as on the hatchery tank system. These upgrades will greatly enhance the capacity of the existing systems for more flexible experimental use. The majority of this work will be conducted by our aquaculture staff, who have more than 50 years' combined expertise in the design, installation & set-up of aquaculture systems. We anticipate this work to take 4-6 months to complete. A further description of our project planning, activities & timetable can be found in Attachment 4.?