NOAA Fisheries announced more than $11 million in recommended grants through the 2016 Saltonstall-Kennedy (SK) Grant competition. Aquafeed.com LLC is one of the potential recipients for the project “Development of a Supplemental Feed and Fertilizer from Fish Processing Waste for Island Farmers and Small Businesses for Sustainable Aquaculture and Agriculture.”
Upon final authorization from NOAA, the project, which will be led by Aquafeed.com LLC’s senior technical consultant, Dr. Warren Dominy, will support the development of sustainable fish farming in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), by leveraging the full potential of the by-products of U.S. fishery resources in the Western Pacific Region.
“Everyone knows that the cost of feed is the major constraining factor for the development of aquaculture in the Pacific Islands”, Aquafeed.com’s Suzi Dominy said. “And yet businesses in some of these communities are paying to dump tons of fish processing waste. They see it as costly rubbish: we see it as a valuable protein source that can be utilized to make an exceptional supplemental feed and lower imported feed requirements”.
“We have already developed a prototype system to process this wet waste and our mission is to transfer this technology to Pacific Island communities, to help them become more self-sufficient in food, and to do it in a sustainable way.
“A large part of this project will be training, and our team looks forward to working in cooperation with community colleges and other local groups throughout the islands,” Suzi Dominy said.
The goal of the SK program is to fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries, and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. The FY16 solicitation sought applicants that fall into seven priorities. The applications recommended for funding fall into these seven priorities:
· Aquaculture
· Fishery Data Collection
· Techniques for Reducing Bycatch and other Adverse Impacts
· Adapting to Climate Change and other Long Term Ecosystem Change
· Promotion, Development, and Marketing
· Socio-Economic Research
· Territorial Science
