StriperHub Receives National Funding to Enhance Production

For immediate release
Contact: Eric Herbst, echerbst@ncsu.edu 

North Carolina Sea Grant’s StriperHub is one of 33 projects receiving federal funding from the National Sea Grant College Program to support sustainable seafood through improved efficiency, output, and profitability of commercial aquaculture businesses. StriperHub promotes commercial domestic striped bass aquaculture. 

“Supporting sustainable, domestic seafood production, through aquaculture, is a key component to a thriving, blue economy across the U.S.,” said Jonathan Pennock, director of NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program. “Sea Grant will continue to work alongside communities to gather and share aquaculture-related knowledge that helps the industry and the environment.”

This project’s principal investigators are Eric Herbst, North Carolina Sea Grant’s coastal aquaculture specialist; Benjamin Reading in the Department of Applied Ecology and Russell Borski in the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University; and Gibson Gaylord, a fish nutritionist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Since StriperHub’s inception, the program has supported the growth of the striped bass aquaculture industry in the U.S. by demonstrating effective commercial-level culture, economics, and marketing practices. This funding will help enhance striped bass aquaculture production and economic feasibility. Specifically, the research team will evaluate the effects of reduced feeding frequency and the addition of thiamine to the fish’s diet. 

“StriperHub, including our collaborators at NC State and around the country, has demonstrated the potential for and technical feasibility of commercial striped bass aquaculture production here in the U.S.,” says Herbst. “Thanks to this additional support from NOAA, we are now able to address production efficiency and cost through refinements in feed formulations and feeding strategies, with the goal of improving economic viability.”

In addition to supporting the striped bass aquaculture industry, the project will support the training of a graduate student who will contribute research, extension, and outreach efforts.

North Carolina Sea Grant also will receive additional funding from the National Sea Grant College Program to support other projects that improve aquaculture capacity, as well as expand aquaculture-related activities. Resources will go to the ongoing Shellfish Farming Academy, a continuing education course at Carteret Community College teaching all aspects of shellfish aquaculture production. Funding will also go to support communications and outreach for public awareness of shellfish mariculture and coastal development challenges and solutions.

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Read more about NOAA Sea Grant’s funding for StriperHub and other projects.