[Sc-aquaponics] Ohio aquaculture survey regarding bird predation

[Smith, Matthew A.]

Acquiring an estimation of fish/crustacean losses due to bird predation on outdoor culture facilities in Ohio


Dear commercial aquaculture producer:

It is known that double-crested cormorants are no longer allowed to be euthanized under an individual farm’s depredation permit that was once issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Personal communication with producers in Ohio has revealed concerns about additional losses on their facilities. Ohio state fish hatcheries have also expressed that they have experienced significant losses. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife (ODW) plans on utilizing the data they have gathered from their facilities to educate and attempt to obtain depredation permits from the FWS once again. ODW has reached out to Extension personnel in the Ohio State University Aquaculture Program seeking information regarding these losses on Ohio’s commercial operations. To strengthen Ohio’s voice, ODW told OSU Extension they intend on utilizing both state hatchery and commercial operations predation/loss of marketable crop data when describing and estimating losses to interested parties.

Attached to this letter is a survey for Ohio commercial producers. All individual farm data will be aggregated and summarized in a single document for dissemination to ODW and other agencies to strengthen Ohio’s voice and may be utilized in newsletters or other forms of education. No farm name or location will be revealed. We understand that some farmers are still harvesting their outdoor systems and thus may not fully know cormorant impacts yet. Data already accumulated and expected losses for 2017 are welcome. We ask that you complete and return the survey to smith.11460 at osu.edu or to the below address by October 27th, 2017. If you need to mail a hard copy of the completed survey then you can drop it off at your local OSU county Extension office. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at smith.11460 at osu.edu, 740.289.2071 ext. 121 (office), or 256.458.0967 (cell). Thanks for your time.
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I want to extend my gratitude to Dr. Carole Engle of Engle-Stone Aquatic$ for allowing Ohio to incorporate most of a previously developed survey into the attached survey. The Southern Regional Aquaculture Center (SRAC) has recently invested a lot of money into investigating exactly how much damage certain birds cause on fish farms and from my understanding the preliminary data is showing that the numbers are much higher than previously believed. Every bit of data helps, so please fill out as much of the information as you can.

Matt

[The Ohio State University]
Matthew A. Smith
Extension Aquaculture Specialist
OSU South Centers
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
1864 Shyville Road, Piketon, OH 45661
740.289.2071 ext 121 Office / 740.289.4591 Fax
smith.11460 at osu.edu<mailto:smith.11460 at osu.edu> osu.edu<http://osu.edu/>

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