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For Immediate Release: March 17, 2011
Contact: Lynne Richmond 
(609) 633-2954

(TRENTON) – The New Jersey Department of Agriculture, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey School of Business and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County are sponsoring a workshop for the aquaculture industry on Tuesday, April 12 in Galloway designed to increase the prominence of the industry in the Garden State.

The one-day workshop will focus on “The Four P’s of a Safe and Sustainable Aquaculture Industry:  Practices, Presentation, Promotion and the Press.”  The event will provide fish and shellfish producers with the knowledge and skills to market their products more successfully, grow their businesses, help shape the public’s perception of aquaculture at a local level and work with government decision-makers.

Presentations will include: strategies to effective farm visits; farm practices that demonstrate the absence of exotic diseases and invasive species, as well as regional perspectives of the environmental soundness and sustainability of aquaculture; tools to provide positive, scientifically accurate information about aquaculture; strategies to deal with the media; and, answers to questions about product safety, imported seafood, risk/benefit studies, advantages of actual seafood consumption versus fish oil capsules, feed concerns, best management practices and environmental impact.

Workshop instructors include:  Dr. Andy Goodwin and Dr. Nathan Stone of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Linda O’Dierno, National Aquaculture Association (NAA) Outreach Coordinator, NAA Executive Director Betsy Hart, and Joseph Myers, Aquaculture Development Specialist for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, who will present on local and sustainability efforts.

Aquaculture is important to New Jersey’s economy -- the production of $6 million in shellfish translates into $36 million of economic benefits to the state.  It also is important to the environment, with shellfish removing harmful substance from the water and providing a habitat for other species.  In addition, there is a social benefit, with the industry sustaining the Jersey coast’s maritime heritage.

The workshop will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Seaview, A Dolce Hotel and Resort, 401 S. New York Rd., Galloway.  The cost is $20 and includes lunch.  Space is limited.  To register, contact Joseph J. Myers at 609-984-2502, e-mail joseph.myers@ag.state.nj.us, or Gef Flimlin at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County at 732-349-1152, e-mail flimlin@aesop.rutgers.edu.

For those needing overnight accommodations, the Seaview is offering a limited block of rooms at a base rate of $100.  Call the Seaview directly at 1-800-983-6523 and mention the aquaculture workshop.