The Texas A&M University System (Texas Sea Grant College Program, Texas AgriLife Extension and Texas AgriLife Research) and The University of Texas at Austin (Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas).

The University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) Auditorium, 750 Channelview Drive, Port Aransas, Texas. NOTE: Questions concerning the course should be addressed only to the organizers — the Texas Sea Grant College Program (2700 Earl Rudder Freeway South, Suite 1800, College Station, Texas 77845). Contact either Peggy Foster at (979) 845-1245, FAX (979) 845-7525 or pfoster@tamu.edu; or Granvil Treece at (979) 845-7527 or g-treece@tamu.edu.

The 2011 course announcement brochure and updated agenda will be available at http://texas-sea-grant.tamu.edu as changes are made.  Look under “Upcoming Events.”

Arrive Port Aransas, Texas. 

Participants are urged to make housing arrangements as soon as possible. The designated hotel for the course is Channelview Condominiums,                           http://www.channelviewcondos.com/index.htm, located at 631 Channelview Drive, P.O. Box 776, Port Aransas, Texas 78373-0776.  Directions to the condos are posted on their web site. Telephone for reservations only (800) 234-8110; office phone and fax (361) 749-6649.  The Channelview Condominiums are conveniently located just across the marina from the auditorium, where the course meets, but you may stay at any hotel of your choice.  These condos are nicely equipped and maintained, with pool, BBQ area and lighted fishing pier in the ship channel.  Other suggested hotels in Port Aransas are the Holiday Inn Express at 727 S. 11th Street in Port Aransas, telephone (361) 749-5222, and the Best Western Hotel at 400 East Avenue G, telephone (800) 528-1234. Personal arrangements must be made for your travel, hotel stay and food at your own expense.
Those arriving via Corpus Christi International Airport are advised that it is 45 miles from Port Aransas and The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. You must rent a car or make arrangements for a taxi or limo. We can provide you with a list of names and contact information upon request of other course participants who may want to share hotel or rental car expenses.
Dress is casual for all occasions. Tennis shoes, short sleeve shirts and short pants are typical dress in Port Aransas. Insect repellent during outings may be necessary. We will provide you with CDs of course materials, so a laptop computer might be useful.

Welcome reception for participants. Location: Channelview Condominiums, 631 Channelview Drive, across the marina from the UTMSI Laboratory. Reception in Room 103 (up the elevator, east side, facing the Gulf of Mexico). Food (by Peggy Foster) and other refreshments furnished.

Meet at UTMSI Auditorium and Visitor Center.
Directions:  The main UTMSI laboratory is located at 750 Channelview Drive in Port Aransas. The Auditorium and Visitor Center is part of the same complex, but located on Cotter Street (near the beach).

Welcome. 
Dr. Lee Fuiman, Director, UT Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas.

Briefing of course activities and review of course materials, DVD, etc.
Granvil Treece, Texas A&M University (TAMU/Texas Sea Grant College Program).

Commercial Marine Shrimp Hatcheries, Josh Wilkenfeld, Texas A&M University/Texas AgriLife Research, Corpus Christi.

Break (coffee, tea or bottled water provided).

Bait Shrimp Aquaculture Production, Josh Wilkenfeld, TAMU/TALR, Corpus Christi.

Lunch (on your own).

Commercial Marine Shrimp Growout.  Harvey Persyn, Floral City, Florida.

Commercial Marine Finfish Farming (red drum), John Turner, Palacios, Texas.

Break.

(Continued) Commercial Marine Finfish Farming, John Turner, Palacios, Texas.

Lunch (on your own).

Facilities Management and Marine Finfish Broodstock at the   
Fisheries and Mariculture Lab (FAML).  Jeff Kaiser, Research Scientist Associate, UTMSI/FAML.

Raising Marine Fish Larvae from Day 0 to Day 30.
Cynthia Faulk, Research Scientist Associate, UTMSI/FAML.

Field trip departs at 8 a.m. sharp from Channelview Condos parking lot (631 Channelview Drive, Port Aransas). BE ON TIME. Field trip to commercial operations in Palacios. On the way to Palacios, we will turn south down Wellpoint Road and drive by Seaside Aquaculture (215-acre red drum farm), St. Martin Seafood (200-acre shrimp and redfish farm), and TPWD Perry R. Bass Marine Finfish Research (red drum stock enhancement hatchery and ponds) on Matagorda Bay. Then we’ll proceed to either Bowers Processing Plant in Palacios, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., or the shrimp farm in Collegeport.  Lunch at Outrigger in Palacios about 1 p.m. at your expense (seafood buffet with catfish and grilled shrimp); then travel to either Bowers farm in Collegeport or Bowers Processing Plant, arriving around 2:30 p.m.  Depart about 3:30 p.m. Visit R&G red drum hatchery and farm outside Port Lavaca 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the way back to Port Aransas.
                                            
NOTE: Come early. Field trip departs at 8 a.m. sharp. Vans and water will be provided or you may take your own vehicle. 

Field trip departs at 8 a.m. sharp from Channelview Condo parking lot (631 Channelview Drive, Port Aransas).  Please be on time! Vans will be provided or you may take your own vehicle.  The field trip should end in Port Aransas around 5 p.m. and we will return to the Channelview Condos.

Tour 1. TPWD/CCA marine finfish hatchery and ponds.  Facilities located at Barney Davis Power Plant on Waldron Road.  Tour guide:  Robert Adami, TPWD.

Tour 2.  AgriLife Research Mariculture Lab: Super-intensive and Biosecure Food-shrimp Production of Pacific White Shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, in Bioflocs Zero Water Exchange Systems, Closed Recirculating Induced Maturation for Penaeid Shrimp, Production of Live Bait Shrimp in Biosecure Zero Water Exchange, Use of the Halophyte Salicornia for Aquaculture Effluent Water Remediation and for Biofuel Production R&D. Dr. Tzachi Samocha and Josh Wilkenfeld. 

Lunch in Corpus Christi (probably Landry’s Seafood on the T-Head Pier), at your expense.

Tour 3.  TAMU AgriLife Research and Shrimp Mariculture Lab, Port Aransas. Dr. Addison Lawrence, Dr. Susmita Patnaik and Jack Crockett, TAMU Port Aransas.

Superintensive Commercial Production of Shrimp.  Dr. Addison Lawrence, Texas A&M University, Texas AgriLife Research, Port Aransas activities.

Break.

Panel Discussion on Superintensive Production: Dr. Lawrence, Dr. Susmita Patnaik and Jack Crockett, TAMU Port Aransas.

The Aquaculture Reserve Library will be open for course participants only at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute Auditorium from 2-5 p.m. Check with Peggy Foster for access or to make an appointment.

Post Harvest Handling/Processing/HACCP of Shrimp and Finfish.
Dr. Russ Miget, TAMU/AgriLife Extension, Texas Sea Grant Extension, Corpus Christi.

Break

Water Quality and Animal Health.
Dr. Joseph Tomasso, Chair and Professor, Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos.

Lunch on your own.

The Economics of Superintensive Shrimp Culture Systems.  Dr. Tzachi Samocha, Texas A&M University, Texas AgriLife Research, Corpus Christi.

Travel to Fisheries and Mariculture Lab, Port Aransas.

FAML facilities; laboratory demonstrations on broodstock maintenance and feeding, algae culture, rotifer culture, rotifer counting, Artemia hatching, counting, and larval fish feeding and maintenance.  Cynthia Faulk and Jeff Kaiser, UTMSI/FAML.

Channelview Condos pool area or room 103 (depending upon weather, insects, etc.), we’ll provide a dinner of sushi by Master Chef and course participant Frank S. (“Chief”) Shibasaki, and other refreshments.

Depart Port Aransas.