Oyster Production And Shellfish Sanitation
Oyster aquaculture is California's oldest aquaculture industry. What began in the early 1850's as a transplant seed industry is today a valuable asset to the state's economy, traditions and a guardian of our natural resources. Current production is primarily in Humboldt Bay, Drakes Estero, Tomales Bay and Morro Bay. The industry grows a variety of species, including Pacific, Kumamoto, European and Eastern oysters. The demand for oyster products far exceeds the state's production level and the majority of shellfish products consumed in the state are imported from the Pacific Northwest and, to a lesser extent, the Atlantic and Gulf states. The California product is considered prime and the production areas are among the best in the country.

Regular certification programs and shellfish monitoring programs to assure food quality are conducted by the Department of Health Service in cooperative programs with the shellfish industry. Two essential programs are the monitoring of the bays for indications of contamination by human sewage and for the occurrence of natural biotoxins, such as paralytic shellfish poison produced by toxic phytoplankton. These two monitoring programs provide a safe product for the consumer and also provide an early warning system for people sport-harvesting shellfish in noncommercial areas. One of the strongest arguments for a strong shellfish industry is its position as the "canary in the mine." As long as the shellfish industry exists, the bays and other shellfish- growing areas will be monitored for water quality to assure human health safety. The monitoring programs include coliform, chemical, and biotoxin analysis. These activities are one of the greatest deterrents to resource exploitation by any group using the coastal zone, including the shellfish industry itself.

Both campus-based Specialists and County Advisors are working with shellfish growers and the Department of Health Service to improve oyster production efficiency and implement shellfish sanitation programs. Program activities include research, service o n regional and state-wide committees and educational activities. Projects underway and proposed include engineering larval setting tank systems for improved efficiency in the remote setting of oyster larvae, larval set density studies for growout efficiency, studies of oyster disease and stress, agricultural, urban watershed and shellfish sanitation recommendations, education and permits and the regulatory process.

Finfish Production, Reproduction and Broodstock Development
California has the most diverse aquaculture finfish industry in the United States. The various topographies and microclimates produce a wide range of water temperatures and over twenty-five species of finfish are produced. Products include food, recreational, and ornamental species. California does not have a major aquaculture finfish processing industry. Of the food species, most are live-hauled to larger metropolitan areas where they are retailed as a live product. Secondary food species, used in the recreational fishing industry, support a multi-billion-dollar-a-year recreational sports industry. The major species produced are channel catfish, rainbow trout, trout eggs, largemouth bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, lesser sunfish, multiple species of bait fish, tilapia, sturgeon, carp, ornamental Koi, aquarium fish and aquarium feeder fish. Because of the large number of finfish species, University resources are more often directed toward discipline studies such as reproduction and pat hology.

Extension outreach activities in finfish aquaculture are conducted by the campus-based Extension Specialist working independently or in concert with other University departmental faculty who also have some outreach responsibility. This cooperative effor t expands the outreach capabilities of the aquaculture program and allows greater utilization of University resources. Major outreach programs being conducted in freshwater aquaculture include sturgeon nutrition and development of a domestic sturgeon broodstock manual, striped bass nutrition, channel catfish production and broodstock management, farm pond aquaculture, aquaculture system design and management, water quality management, finfish species physiology and biological requirements, finfish disease management, production site selection and pond facility construction, and aquaculture permit process and regulations.

Aquatic Animal Welfare
Animal welfare is a major concern of California's general population and an issue addressed within the University of California. Animal welfare means the humane treatment of animals managed by humans. In the case of food production animals, this means that the animals are maintained under "best management practices" throughout their life.

As a Land Grant University, the University of California is responsible for operating teaching, research and extension programs related to the production of food and fiber. In the conduct of these programs, the University maintains laboratory and production animals using regulations and guidelines established by the federal government, Public Health Service, and the American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. As part of its teaching, research and extension activities, the University's philosophy of best management practices is extended to the agriculture industries.

The welfare of animals used for aquacultural production is also an area of emphasis at the University. Best management practices for aquatic animals are humane, and reduce stress and disease. In support of these efforts, programs have been established with the aquaculture industry to develop animal welfare positions within the industry and to develop best management practices for holding farm-raised aquatic species.

Information Dissemination by Computer and Internet
With the increase in the State's population and limited resources, the University is rapidly developing computer tools that address the dissemination of information industry and the general public. This includes software and computer systems that link Extension Advisors and Specialists and speeds the transfer of information to clientele that range from those that have only a mail address to clientele that have full access to the Internet.

A major program is the aquaculture "information hub" that is being developed in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis. The "hub" is a computer server which links county Extension Advisors with clients and state-wide Specialists. Central to the design is the Internet server and regional aquaculture web-site, "California Aquaculture," that is operated by the campus-based Specialist and software engineer. The hub system functions as a primary tool for the Specialists by storing information that is commonly distributed to the industry and general public and as a resource tool for obtaining industry-related information from other sources located on the Internet. It is being designed as a "hub" in that county advisors wi ll be able to "tool" from the server to deliver information to clients without direct involvement with the Specialist.

The full design incorporates the central Internet server and associated software and computer programs, the regional California Aquaculture web-site and a stand-alone document management PC software (Outreach for Windows). Outreach for Windows was designed and built within the Department and interfaces with the server and the Internet. The California Aquaculture web-site contains information and links to other sites of interest to producers and segments of the general public who are interested in obtaining aquaculture information. There are specific links to the California Aquaculture Association, university aquaculture programs, state and federal agencies, and commercial aquaculture sites. The publication section contains over 127 aquaculture-related publications that may be sorted or searched while on line.

County Extension personnel employing use of Outreach for Windows can sort and search pre-selected documents (.pdf, .txt, .html) located on the campus-based hub-server or any other Internet web-site. From the county-based office computer, these documents can be accessed by the web browser without the lengthy down-loading process normally associated with these activities and rapidly faxed, e-mailed or mailed to a third location. Industry and the general public without Outreach software may access the FT P site for downloading aquaculture publications, citations and abstracts. A database of selected references on the web-site may be searched and sorted over the Internet using another Internet program (BiblionWeb) and sent to a third location. The hub server can be accessed with any Internet web browser and, within the California Aquaculture web-site, selected publication files contained within a software program (OutreachWeb) may be searched, sorted and accessed.

The California Aquaculture server is also equipped with an Automatic E-mail Responder that allows e-mail retrieval of an index of files and instructions on how to retrieve files by e-mail, including the capability to send Adobe (.pdf) files in .txt forma t and reconstruct the .pdf file on the receiver end. The Internet server is maintained by the Specialist and software engineer using Outreach for Windows and a computer program that loads documents in all formats and loads abstracts, references, keyword s, and other essential data on all components of the hub server. The system is being evaluated for application to other commodities.