GCRL hosts fisheries workshop

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory will present a free workshop on Mississippi’s marine fisheries at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Caylor Auditorium. It's open to the general public. Topics will include Mississippi’s spotted seatrout population monitoring, Tag and Release Program updates, tarpon occurrences in Mississippi, striped bass habitat and tracking, spotted seatrout spawning habitat and other issues pertinent to Mississippi’s fisheries. For more information, contact Read Hendon, GCRL fisheries biologist, at 228.872.4202. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 11/24/08)

Marine scientist gets USM award

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Dr. Robin Overstreet, marine parasitologist at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory and professor in the Department of Coastal Sciences, received The University of Southern Mississippi's Innovation Lifetime Achievement Award. Overstreet is recognized as a world authority on fish parasites and disease, and is credited with the discovery of hundreds of new species. He joined GCRL in 1969. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 11/17/08)

Vote on aquaculture delayed

MOBILE, Ala. - Federal fishery regulators delayed a vote on a proposal that would open the Gulf of Mexico to fish farms. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will consider the aquaculture plan at a January meeting in Bay St. Louis, Miss. The proposal would create a permitting process for developers to raise fish in underwater cages in federal waters 3 to 200 miles offshore. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/29/08)

Crozier returns to Mobile's Sea Lab

MOBILE, Ala. - George Crozier will return to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab as executive director for the next two years. The lab’s board voted Wednesday to hire Crozier, who retired in 2007 after directing the lab for 30 years. The post became vacant this month when new director L. Scott Quackenbush died. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/29/08)

Vote expected on Gulf fish farms

MOBILE, Ala. - Federal fisheries regulators this week will decide whether to open the Gulf of Mexico to industrial-scale fish farms – fish raised in underwater cages and pens – that could yield more than 60 million pounds of additional seafood from the ocean. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday in Mobile before voting on the issue. The plan would create a permitting process for aquaculturists to develop large-scale fish farms, raising only native species in underwater cages. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 10/27/08)

NOAA announces plan to upgrade ships

WASHINGTON - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has completed a detailed plan to modernize its marine operations by replacing nine research ships and refurbishing a 10th in the next 15 years. The 19-ship fleet supports a wide range of activities, including fisheries and coastal research, nautical charting, and long-range ocean and climate studies. Nine vessels entered into service since 2001. Two additional ships will enter service in the next year, with one homeported in Mississippi and the other on the West Coast. VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, Miss. is a major builder of NOAA ships. (Source: NOAA, 10/23/08)

GCRL professor gets $2.3M grant

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Microbiologist Crystal Johnson at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory has been awarded a four-year, $2.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health to study pathogenic vibrios. Johnson and colleagues from the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Coastal Sciences at GCRL and the Department of Marine Science at Stennis Space Center will collaborate with researchers at the University of Maryland and the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Wash. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 10/20/08)

DI sea lab director dies

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. - Marine scientist L. Scott Quackenbush, executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, died Sunday after a brief illness, officials said. He was 56. Quackenbush, a native of Baltimore, assumed the top job in July. He had previously worked as associate dean for marine science programs at Humbolt State University in Arcata, Calif. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 10/14/08)

NGI: Focusing on the big picture

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - It's been part of the local economy for more than two years now, yet most residents are likely to know little about it. But the Northern Gulf Institute is becoming a heavyweight research operation, and hopes to begin work soon on a new $9 million building at Stennis. (Source: Alliance Insight, October 2008)

Study sees shortage of marine scientists

The departments of commerce and education are forecasting a serious shortage of scientists trained to do the research required to rebuild fish stocks and restore marine species in the next decade. A new joint report to Congress estimates the nation will need between 180 and 340 new fishery stock assessment scientists in the next 10 years, but current institutions will produce only 160. (Source: Department of Commerce, Department of Education, 09/29/08)

GCRL hosts oceans celebration

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory and its J.L. Scott Marine Education Center will celebrate the opening of its Ocean Today Kiosk with a free event Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. GCRL is one of five pilot sites debuting the kiosk, an interactive interpretive learning station featuring national ocean news and video from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. The address is 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, Miss. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 09/24/0)

Oceans '09 set for Biloxi

BILOXI, Miss. - The Oceans 2009 conference for marine science and engineering will be held Oct. 26-29, 2009 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. The event is sponsored by the Marine Technology Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers/Oceanic Engineering Society. Organizers are now looking for local exhibitors, who can contact Sue Kingston at s.kingston@ieee.org for more information. (Source: The Stennis News, August 08 issue)

Supercomputer to help in ocean modeling

WASHINGTON - IBM says the federal government has purchased a supercomputer to provide improved data for the nation’s military and commercial ocean-going vessels. The Department of Defense will use the Power 575 Hydro-Cluster supercomputer to provide detailed models of ocean waves, currents and temperature to predict ocean behavior. While the primary user will be the Navy, models will be publicly accessible through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The models will also be used by the Coast Guard to improve search and rescue. IBM said the supercomputer at Mississippi’s Stennis Space Center will also be used as a platform for R&D in ocean science. (Source: UPI, 07/10/08)

Lab gets NOAA aquaculture grant

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s Cedar Point Marine Aquaculture Center has received $6.7 million that will go toward increasing seafood production in South Mississippi. U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran announced the funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enable the center to further develop its University of Southern Mississippi campus into a state-of-the-art marine aquaculture research and demonstration facility. Cochran said it will lead to improved aquaculture technologies that help alleviate harmful impacts on natural fish stocks while providing consumers with high-demand fish products. Programs like the one at Ocean Springs are searching for ways to mass-produce marine seafood onshore in confined offshore farms. (Source: The Sun Herald, 06/14/08)

A different kind of CSI

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - The J.L. Scott Marine Education Center is offering a new summer career camp for teens ages 15-18. The CSI, which stands for Coastal Sciences Investigation Camp, will be at the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center, located at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs. It’s an opportunity for high school students to get hands-on career orientation in the field of marine science. The camp will be offered June 2-6 and July 28-Aug. 1. For more information call 228.818.8890, or e-mail marine.education@usm.edu. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 04/07/08)