Established in 2010 with Congressionally directed “seed’ funding, the Institute for Seafood Studies mission and goals are to develop, integrate, and conduct collaborative interdisciplinary scholarly activities with the Gulf seafood industry. Photo: Facebook
by Nicholls State University Staff
Two members of the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) have been named to Louisiana’s Nicholls State University’s 2014 Institute for Seafood Studies Advisory Board. GSI Board President Harlon Pearce and the organizations Media Relations and Editorial director Ed Lallo, will serve with 16 other Gulf seafood industry leaders on this year’s board that will meet on August 26 in the President’s Conference Room located in Picciola Hall.
“The goal of this program is to work collaboratively with our state seafood industry members, government agencies, and academic institutions to address the academic research needs of seafood species fisheries, the seafood industry, as well as related industries,” explained GSI’s Harlon Pearce. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
Established in 2010 with Congressionally directed “seed’ funding, the Institute for Seafood Studies mission and goals are to develop, integrate, and conduct collaborative interdisciplinary scholarly activities with the Gulf seafood industry to foster the growth, diversification, protection, and sustainability of this nationally significant and traditional renewable resource.
Louisiana has traditionally been one of the top producers in the continental United States of commercial shellfish and finfish species, providing about one-third of the nation’s commercial seafood species.
“Until the Institute for Seafood Studies was established, Louisiana did not have an interdisciplinary research Institute to support and foster this vital renewable resource, said project director Dr. Marilyn B. Kilgen, of the university’s Department of Biological Sciences. “Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill our mission has become critical as production of the Gulf’s most valuable seafood species have been greatly reduced.”
Located in Houma near the heart of the nation’s largest estuary – the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary, the school seeks to establish the Institute as a nationally eminent interdisciplinary program for integrated studies of seafood species.
“Until the Institute for Seafood Studies was established, Louisiana did not have an interdisciplinary research Institute to support and foster this vital renewable resource, said project director Dr. Marilyn B. Kilgen (left) with D.C. attorney Randy Randol and advisory board member Sarah Voisin at the D.C. oyster reception. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
“The goal of this program is to work collaboratively with our state seafood industry members, government agencies, and academic institutions to address the academic research needs of seafood species fisheries, the seafood industry, as well as related industries,” explained GSI’s Pearce, owner of Harlon’s LA Fish, a New Orleans seafood distributor.
Louisiana has traditionally been one of the top producers in the continental United States of commercial shellfish and finish species. Photo: Crab Task Force
In 2010, $325,000 of Congressionally directed “seed” funding in the National Marine Fisheries Service division of NOAA was received to help establish the Institute. Since that time the Institute has more than doubled this seed funding though industry and competitive research grants for a total of $723,260.
Two main research priorities were established;seafood habitats and product development. Four projects were funded with the money.
In addition, BP contributed $350,000 to fund four additional research projects as well as a research vessel and truck for the Institute, and $47,000 was secured from the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) and Motivatit Seafood.
Funding from the Institute has been used to help obtain FDA certification for the Environmental and Public Health Microbiology Laboratory at Nicholls State. The research faculty conducts integrative research, which spans scientific expertise from the molecular to the ecosystem levels. The results of the research are expected to exert both direct and indirect positive economic impacts on the Gulf’s seafood industries.
This year the board will be hearing final reports for the four initially funded ISSC projects in the areas of habitat and product development, presentations include:
- Development of molecular biomarkers for assessment of larval populations and viability of commercially important seafood species—blue crab, penaeid shrimps, and oysters – John Doucet, Ph.D., Dean of Arts and Sciences and Distinguished Service Professor of Biological Sciences; Director of the Nicholls State University Honor’s Program and Enmin Zou, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences
- Interactive effects of the Deepwater Horizon crude oil and the dispersant Corexit 9500 in penaeid shrimps and the Gulf killifish – Enmin Zou, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences
- Reproductive Biomarkers of Aquatic Organisms as Indicators of Habitat Health – Gary LaFleur, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
- Louisiana Seafood Product Developmentby the Nicholls State University Chef John Folse Culinary Institute – Chef Monica Larousse, Instructor, Chef John Folse Culinary Institute
“It is an honor to be asked to serve with such noted seafood leaders,” said GSI’s Lallo, who is also serves as CEO of Texas based Newsroom Ink. Photo: GSI
“It is an honor to be asked to serve with such noted seafood leaders,” said GSI’s Lallo, who is also serves as CEO of Texas based Newsroom Ink, and the only non-Louisianan on the board. “I have worked closely with a number of the board members as the former editorial director of Louisiana Seafood News. I hope to bring a broader Gulf-wide perspective to the table, as well as help in obtaining national recognition for the important work being done.”
According to Kilgen, Lallo will be a valuable asset to the board not only because of his news and editorial expertise, but because his work with the seafood industry gives valuable insight and knowledge on important issues.
Board
Kerry St. Pe’ (Chairman)
Retired Executive Director Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
Sarah Theriot Voisin
Motivatit Seafoods, LLC
Al Sunseri
P & J Oyster Company, Inc.
Harlon Pearce, Jr.
Gulf Seafood Institute and Harlon’s LA Fish
Gary Bauer
Pontchartrain Blue Crab, Inc.
Craig Borges
New Orleans Seafood Company
Kimberly K Chauvin
Mariah Jade Shrimp Company
Alan A. Gibson
Tidelands Seafood Company
Lance Nacio
Shrimp Task Force, Anna Marie Seafoods
Ted Falgout
T-Bois Aquaculture
Randy Cheramie
Executive Director, Chef John Folse Culinary Institute
Bobby G. Savoie
Public Health Consultant and Advisor to the Gulf Oyster Industry Council
Kristin McLaren
Executive Director, Chef John Folse Foundation
Julie Falgout
Extension Assistant, LSU
Gordon LeBlanc
Molluscan Shellfish Program Administrator, LA Dept of Health and Hospitals
Gary LaPinto
Seafood Program Manager, LA Dept.of Health and Hospitals
Martin Bourgeois
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Ed Lallo
Gulf Seafood Institute and CEO of Newsroom Ink
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