Fisheries Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics
FEED Lab
Extension is a vital process to provide university education on best practices to industry stakeholders and the public. Programs in extension provide skills and training widely across boundaries and the reach of typical university sponsored research. As a Sea Grant specialist, Jeff Plumlee is responsible for developing extension programs to benefit fishers across Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. A hallmark of a good extension program is the integration of extension and research so all research undertaken in the FEED lab will have a component of extension and outreach – and vice versa.
Extension
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Extension Programs
Trash to Treasure: Promoting Abundant Non-Game Fish as Seafood Alternatives
Across all fishing sectors there are often non-target or non-game fish species incidentally caught as bycatch during the pursuit of other more desirable fish species. Because the fate of this bycatch is often not mandated due to their low desirability as non-game species they are often discarded. This widespread discard results in waste of edible seafood that potentially provides the same nutritional content as target species. The Trash to Treasure initiative focuses on three main strategies to move away from seafood waste:
Sustainability: Is the directed harvest of a new species sustainable? Is the population growth rate and fecundity of a given species robust enough to sustain harvest? Will harvest negatively alter the relationships among species within an ecosystem?
Food Quality: Is this species edible? Does this species have unique food qualities that make it desirable (high in protein, Omega-3s, Omega-5s)? Does this species have a high contaminant load that makes it inedible in certain regions or times of the year (PFAS, heavy metals)?
Perception: Are there public perceptions that are perpetuated around this species? Has this species been historically consumed by a particular ethnic or indigenous group? What negative perceptions around this species are objectively false?
As a philosophy, the FEED Lab will widely apply this approach to all non-target species to reduce seafood waste and pave a route for fisheries to put more seafood on our plates.
