← Leaderboards

Hawai'I Pacific University

$2,539,112

Total funding

4

Grants

Funding over time

peak $745.7K · FY2015–20

$1M$750K$500K$250K$0

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

'20

Funding mix

By agency

USDA$2,539,112 · 4

By mechanism

—$2,539,112 · 4

Investigators at Hawai'I Pacific University

Investigator-initiated All funding

Investigatorsi

Rising Stars

First grant in the last 5 yrs

Not enough data

Emerging Leaders

6–10 yrs in

Not enough data

All-Time

Most funded here, all years

Not enough data

Largest grants

REGIONAL AQUACULTURE CENTER - CENTER FOR TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL AQUACULTURE$745,728

· FY2015 · National Institute of Food and Agriculture

REGIONAL AQUACULTURE CENTER - CENTER FOR TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL AQUACULTURE$743,424

· FY2017 · National Institute of Food and Agriculture

REGIONAL AQUACULTURE CENTER - CENTER FOR TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL AQUACULTURE$739,960

· FY2016 · National Institute of Food and Agriculture

SHRIMP ARE THE MOST CONSUMED SEAFOOD IN THE UNITED STATES WITH ANNUAL PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF 4.6 POUNDS. DESPITE ITS POPULARITY, ABOUT 90% OF SHRIMP CONSUMED IN THE U.S. ARE IMPORTED. THIS IMBALANCE RESULTS IN AN ANNUAL TRADE DEFICIT IN SHRIMP PRODUCTS OF ~$6.4B. THUS, THERE IS INCENTIVE TO INCREASE DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. HOWEVER, DOMESTIC SHRIMP LANDINGS HAVE REMAINED RELATIVELY CONSTANT OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS. LIKEWISE, US SHRIMP AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION HAS REMAINED LOW OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES, DESPITE A 5-FOLD INCREASE IN GLOBAL SHRIMP AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION OVER THE SAME PERIOD.INLAND SHRIMP FARMING IS ONE SECTOR OF THE US INDUSTRY THAT HAS SHOWN GROWTH. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE ARE ~100 INLAND SHRIMP FARMS IN OPERATION AND THESE PRODUCE 250-500 MT/YEAR. INLAND SHRIMP FARMING IS ATTRACTIVE FOR SEVERAL REASONS. FIRST, INLAND FARMS HAVE INCREASED BIOSECURITY, AS THEY ARE LOCATED AWAY FROM SOURCES OF SHRIMP PATHOGENS (I.E. THE COAST). SECOND, INLAND FARMS LOCATED INDOORS CAN PRODUCE SHRIMP YEAR-ROUND. THIS IS A HUGE BENEFIT OVER TRADITIONAL, OUTDOOR FARMS IN THE US WHICH TYPICALLY PRODUCE ONLY ONE CROP PER YEAR. INLAND FARMS ARE LOCATED AWAY FROM COASTAL AREAS AND THIS REDUCES CONCERNS ABOUT FARM EFFLUENT AND COASTAL EUTROPHICATION. SITING FARMS IN RURAL FARMING AREAS CAN REDUCE LAND AND LABOR COSTS, WHILE ALLOWING FRESH PRODUCT TO BE SOLD DIRECTLY TO CONSUMERS OR THE FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY IF FARMS ARE WITHIN REASONABLE DRIVING DISTANCE TO URBAN MARKETS. THIS INCREASES REVENUE TO THE FARMER, DUE TO A HIGHER SALES PRICE, AND ELIMINATES THE NEED TO COMPETE DIRECTLY WITH LOWER-VALUE, FROZEN, IMPORTED SHRIMP. LASTLY, INLAND FARMS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EXISTING FARM INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS LOCAL FEED MILLS AND AGRICULTURE EQUIPMENT PROVIDERS.DESPITE THOSE POTENTIAL BENEFITS, INLAND SHRIMP FARMING HAS INHERENT CHALLENGES, MOST NOTABLY HIGH CAPITAL AND OPERATIONAL COSTS. FOR EXAMPLE, MOST INLAND FARMS HAVE NO NATURAL SOURCE OF SEAWATER SO THEY ARE RELIANT ON MADE SEAWATER USING NATURAL OR SYNTHETIC SEA SALTS. SALTS ARE EXPENSIVE (~$750/TON) AND CAN REPRESENT LARGE STARTUP AND OPERATIONAL COSTS. THE TRU SHRIMP COMPANY, AN INLAND FARM IN MINNESOTA, ESTIMATES THAT ~1,700 MT OF SALT, COSTING ~$1.3M, WILL BE REQUIRED AT STARTUP OF THEIR PLANNED EXPANSION TO ACHIEVE AN OPERATING SALINITY OF 28 PSU. IN ADDITION, THE FARM WILL REQUIRE ~$0.5M WORTH OF SALT ANNUALLY TO SUPPORT NORMAL OPERATIONS. INLAND FARMS ALSO MUST ABIDE BY LOCAL EFFLUENT STANDARDS, INCLUDING ALLOWABLE AMOUNTS OF SALTS IN FARM DISCHARGE. THUS, EFFORTS MUST BE MADE TO MINIMIZE EFFLUENT (RECIRCULATION/REUSE OF CULTURE WATER) AND/OR RECLAIM SALTS PRIOR TO DISCHARGE. IF SALT USAGE CAN BE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY, THEN FARMS COULD REALIZE COST SAVINGS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED SALT PURCHASES AND REDUCED EFFORTS IN SALT RECLAMATION FROM EFFLUENT.PACIFIC WHITE SHRIMP, LITOPENAEUS VANNAMEI, IS THE MOST COMMON SHRIMP CULTURED WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING IN THE US. THIS IS LARGELY DUE TO THE AVAILABILITY OFSPECIFIC PATHOGEN FREE (SPF), SELECTIVELY BRED LINES. SELECTED LINES OF L. VANNAMEI HAVE BEEN BRED PRIMARILY FOR FAST GROWTH, GROWOUT SURVIVAL, AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS. L. VANNAMEI IS EURYHALINE AND FARMING THIS SPECIES IN BRACKISH WATER IS COMMON ON TRADITIONAL FARMS AROUND THE WORLD, AS MANY FARMS GET THEIR SOURCE WATER FROM ESTUARIES OR TIDAL CREEKS. WHILE JUVENILE AND ADULT L. VANNAMEI ARE TOLERANT OF LOW SALINITY WATER (&LT;5 PSU), THEY GENERALLY EXHIBIT BETTER GROWTH AND SURVIVAL AT SALINITIES &GT;15 PSU.DESPITE THE COMMON PRACTICE OF FARMING L. VANNAMEI IN LOW SALINITY WATER, NO PUBLISHED RESEARCH EXISTS ON TARGETED GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF SHRIMP PERFORMANCE IN REDUCED SALINITY ENVIRONMENTS. MULTIPLE STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT GROWTH IS MODERATELY HERITABLE AND THAT GENETIC IMPROVEMENT FOR GROWTH CAN BE RAPID; HOWEVER, THESE STUDIES WERE CARRIED OUT AT RELATIVELY HIGH SALINITIES (&GT;20 PSU).TO DATE, GENETIC IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS FOR L. VANNAMEI HAVE LARGELY RELIED ON FAMILY SELECTION AND THE USE OF SPF STOCKS. WHILE THIS APPROACH HAS BEEN EFFECTIVE, IT IS NOT IDEAL BECAUSE IT DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE DIRECT EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL BREEDERS. FOR EXAMPLE, SUPERIOR ANIMALS FROM COMMERCIAL FARMS CANNOT TO BE DIRECTLY INCORPORATED INTO A SPF BREEDING PROGRAM DUE TO DISEASE CONCERNS. INSTEAD, SELECTION MUST BE BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SIBLINGS. THIS REQUIRES LARGE NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS PER FAMILY TO BE EVALUATED TO GET REPRESENTATIVE PHENOTYPIC DATA. ALSO, SELECTION ACCURACY, AND THEREFORE GENETIC GAINS, OF SIB-SELECTION ARE LIMITED DUE TO WITHIN-FAMILY GENETIC VARIATION.RECENT ADVANCES IN GENOMICS OFFER BREEDERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE EFFICACY AND EFFICIENCY OF SHRIMP BREEDING PROGRAMS BY: 1) SIMPLIFYING BREEDING SCHEMES; 2) USING GENOTYPIC DATA FROM COMMERCIAL EVALUATIONS; 3) BREEDING FOR HARD-TO-MEASURE AND LOW HERITABILITY TRAITS; 4) ESTIMATING AND CONTROLLING FOR INBREEDING; AND 5) INCREASING GENETIC GAIN BY IMPROVING SELECTION ACCURACY THROUGH SELECTION OF BREEDERS BASED ON GENOTYPIC DATA (NOT PHENOTYPES OF SIBLINGS).WHILE THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF GENOMIC TOOLS FOR PLANTS AND LIVESTOCK HAVE PROGRESSED RAPIDLY, THEIR USE IN AQUACULTURE HAS LAGGED FAR BEHIND. FOR EXAMPLE, GLOBAL AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION OF L. VANNAMEI CURRENTLY IS 4.5 MILLION MT/YEAR, WITH A FARM GATE VALUE OF ~$24B. HOWEVER, THERE IS ONLY ONE PUBLISHED GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY (GWAS) FOR THIS SPECIES. FURTHERMORE, THERE ARE ONLY TWO COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE GENETIC MARKER ARRAYS AVAILABLE AND ONE HAS LOW MARKER DENSITY (6,500 MARKERS). THE CENTER FOR AQUACULTURE TECHNOLOGIES (CAT) RECENTLY DEVELOPED A HIGH-DENSITY MARKER CHIP (AQUAARRAY HD VANNAMEI) FOR L. VANNAMEI. CRITICALLY, A CUSTOMIZED VERSION OF THIS CHIP HAS BEEN OPTIMIZED FOR OI'S L. VANNAMEI POPULATION AND IS AVAILABLE TO USE FOR THIS PROJECT. THE CHIP CONTAINS OVER 50,000 GENOME-WIDE SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS (SNPS). THE ARRAY INCLUDES HIGH-QUALITY AND INFORMATIVE SNPS THAT ARE DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE GENOME. IN ADDITION, CAT HAS A PROPRIETARY PANEL OF 192 SNPS FOR PEDIGREE ASSIGNMENT AND POPULATION ANALYSES IN L. VANNAMEI.THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND DISTRIBUTE LINES OF L. VANNAMEI WHICH EXHIBIT HIGH GROWTH AND SURVIVAL,UNDER LOW-SALINITY CONDITIONS, SO THAT INLAND SHRIMP FARMERS IN THE US CAN REALIZE IMPROVED FARM PRODUCTIVITY, EFFICIENCY, AND PROFITABILITY. SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE: 1) CONDUCT A GWAS FOR GROWTH AND SURVIVAL IN HIGH (28 PSU) AND REDUCED SALINITY (14 PSU) COMMERCIAL GROWOUT ENVIRONMENTS, AND 2) CONDUCT ONE GENERATION OF SELECTION USING PHENOTYPIC AND GENOMIC DATA (I.E. GENOMIC PREDICTION AND SELECTION) TO ESTIMATE GENETIC PARAMETERS BOTH WITHIN (HERITABILITY AND SELECTION RESPONSE) AND ACROSS THE TWO SALINITIES (PHENOTYPIC AND GENETIC CORRELATIONS - G&TIMES;E). THESE OBJECTIVES ADDRESS KNOWLEDGE GAPS IN BREEDING FOR SHRIMP PERFORMANCE UNDER REDUCED SALINITY CONDITIONS (I.E. LACK OF GENETIC PARAMETER ESTIMATES),WHILE USING THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENOMIC TOOLS FOR SHRIMP TO IDENTIFY VALUABLE MARKERS FOR GROWTH AND SURVIVAL (WITHIN AND ACROSS SALINITIES). IN ADDITION, THIS PROJECT WOULD BE THE FIRST (NO PUBLISHED STUDIES TO DATE) TO DEMONSTRATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GENOMIC SELECTION FOR PENAEID SHRIMP USING COMMERCIAL EVALUATION DATA. THIS PROJECT SHOULD PROVIDE VALUABLE DATA ON THE IMPACTS OF REDUCING SALINITY (PROPOSING A 50% REDUCTION) ON THE PERFORMANCE OF A SELECTED LINE OF L. VANNAMEI, DETERMINE WHAT TRADE-OFFS (IN GENETIC GAIN) CAN BE EXPECTED IF SELECTION OCCURS AT ONE SALINITY AND FARMING OCCURS AT ANOTHER AND, ULTIMATELY, IF DEVELOPING SEPARATE LINES FOR HIGH AND LOW/REDUCED SALINITY IS WARRANTED.$310,000

· FY2020 · National Institute of Food and Agriculture