One of the greatest things about being part of Sea Grant is
that we are instantaneously a part of a nation-wide network where colleagues
from all of the 33 Sea Grant programs can function as resources for one
another. But here is the reality- it is
rare that we DO use each other as resources, mostly because we are focused on
our work in our own states and regions and it is counter-intuitive to reach out
to colleagues from across the country. It is also rare that we get to interact
with each other in person on a regular basis- oh we have Sea Grant Week and
Regional Sea Grant meetings and some of us have been lucky enough to go through
Sea Grant Academy but how often do we really connect after these events are
over? The Sea Grant network in theory is
a valuable resource IF we can tap into it and if we KNOW what is happening in
each of our programs.
With this in mind and as an example of what can happen when
we get together at events such as Sea Grant Academy, a few of us newly minted Academy
2013 grads realized that we were doing similar programming and that it might be
worthwhile to visit each other to learn more. Thus, over dinners and drinks
Twyla Herrington, Alan Matherne
(both
from
Louisiana Sea Grant)
and myself, thought the idea of a “Sea Grant Exchange” where Sea Grant agents
from other programs would host each other for several days and have them see
and participate in what they do in their daily Sea Grant jobs and in so doing
see if any programming can be adaptable and implemented in their home programs.
Of course such ideas also need some financial backing which
got us thinking about what it would entail to get it up and running which is
still a big question and a hurdle.
However, as we continued to talk about other things such as direct
marketing of seafood and our work with the fishing industry an idea came to
mind that could make the first “exchange” plausible. Alan and others from
Louisiana Sea Grant were putting together the second annual
Louisiana
Fisheries Summit in the Spring of 2014 and Twyla was organizing a Crab
Workshop series around the same time. Both of these events were similar to
things that I was thinking about in some form or other for New Hampshire
(instead of crabs, lobsters) and I really thought it would be beneficial- even
if I paid for it myself- to attend one or both of these events.
When I returned back to work, I spoke to my
supervisor and other colleagues about this “exchange” and all said it would be
a great opportunity but I would need to figure out a way to make it happen
because there was no money for that sort of thing.
In November, Alan sent me a draft agenda of the Summit and
suggested that perhaps I could contribute to the agenda by giving a talk or a
poster to not only justify the trip but also to be an active participant. We decided that some of my work dove-tailed
nicely with the Direct Marketing of Seafood portions of the agenda and Alan
invited me to give a presentation on “Professional Fisheries and Direct
Marketing of Seafood- the East Coast Experience” and then invited Pete Granger
from Washington Sea Grant to give a similar talk from the West Coast.
Now the only thing to do was to solve the question of how to
fund this trip. I would like to say that
Sea Grant and UNH threw money at me and paid my way, but that is not what
happened. Rather, I was lucky enough to have a little reserve fund that my
supervisor said I could tap into if I thought this “exchange” was worth it and
Twyla and I figured out places to stay that were free (read- family and friends
and other colleagues).
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| The entrance to Stella Plantation, Plaquemines Parish, LA |
Fast forward to March 10
th, 2014 and I am on a
plane to New Orleans.
Twyla Herrington
went above and beyond (in my opinion) as my LA SG guide and kept true to the
spirit of the exchange.
Thanks to Twyla
and her husband’s truck, I spent 5 amazing and truly valuable days as an
honorary LA SG marine agent!
Twyla took
me on all her daily duties, which included listening to some of her phone calls
and requests from her stakeholders and fishermen. For example, I did not know
that as Sea Grant agents, we could be called upon to find out information on
bait types and prices, or that speaking to insurance providers was on our list
of services. In addition, I got to tour her office at the LA AgCenter building
in Belle Chasse, LA. Twyla covers Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes, two of
the parishes that were greatly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and that
have a large shrimping and crawfish fishing industry. I tagged along with Twyla
and met some of her “clients” including an owner of an incredibly beautiful
Plantation,
Stella Plantation,
which she works with because of her ecotourism programming. She took me to the
shrimp docks and onto a boat that was being refitted into a charter boat and I
got to hear plans about a lake being built on a farm so that crawfishing (as a
venture into ecotourism) could occur. I also learned that her “people” really
trust her and depend on her. They have her cell phone number (which pinged
constantly with emails or texts) and they really do use her as the great
resource that she is!
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| Crayfish pots |
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| Shrimp boat docks, Plaquemines Parish, LA |
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| The Peruga- a shrimp boat being retro-fitted for ecotourism usage. |
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| G. Bradt speaking at the Louisiana Fisheries Summit |
On Wednesday, March
12, we left New Orleans and drove a few hours southwest to Houma, LA to the
convention center where the Fisheries Summit was being held for the next two
days. What struck me the most about this event was the number of LA fishermen
that attended, over 300 over the course of the two days and the number of Sea
Grant agents as well as representative of LA Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries (LDWF).
Granted, I am
comparing this to my small NH fisheries, but I was still impressed at the
participation, especially from fishermen. The Summit itself was a wealth of
information, a lot, obviously, was centered around LA specific
issues such as the state of the crab and
shrimp industries and much was centered on direct marketing of Louisiana
seafood. But there were also sessions about seafood safety and handling, vessel
safety, gear and refrigeration just to name a few. In addition, there was a
small trade show featuring the US Coast Guard, Banks, LDWF and direct marketing
efforts such as
Louisiana Seafood.
The Summit for me was a great learning experience especially
with regard to direct marketing and ecotourism
but more importantly it was a chance to talk and meet other members of the Gulf seafood
industry and fellow Sea Grant colleagues such as Julie Anderson whom I have
worked with on marine debris issues, Pete Granger (WA SG), John Bell, John
Supan (aka “Sup”), Julie Falgout, Thu Bui, Carol Franze, Lauren Land and Thomas
Hymel. It was great hearing about their work and how they have tackled similar
issues in Louisiana as my colleagues and I are encountering here in New
Hampshire. It was really exciting to know that our network, really truly is a
rich resource for all of us. I can now say, that I am comfortable picking up
the telephone and calling these fellow Sea Grant agents if I have questions or
just referring them to other people, because I now have an idea of what they
can offer both in knowledge and experience.
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| Fellow Sea Granters, Lauren Land and Twyla Herrington |
After the Summit, Twyla and I headed south to Grand Isle to
visit John Supan who is the director of the Sea Grant Oyster Hatchery and got a
full tour of the operation down there –although it was shut down for the season
and hadn’t started back up. It was a
beautiful location and talking with “Sup” made me start thinking about another
version of the “exchange” which would involve spending a week on Grand Isle
learning the tools of the oyster culture trade from one of the best in the field and would be “Professional Development Camp” for Sea Grant!
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| Entrance to Grand Isle, LA |
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| John Supan, Director of the LASG Oyster Hatchery and Twyla Herrington |
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| Oyster grow out cages |
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| The LASG Oyster Hatchery residence, Grand Isle, LA. |
All in all, I came back to New Hampshire with a head full of
ideas and resources and potential additions to our program, new friends,
contacts and potential collaborators in the future. This was exactly what we
hoped this exchange would do and I am looking forward to hosting LA Sea Grant
as the next leg of the “exchange”. It is our hope that this will garner some
well-deserved publicity and backing from Sea Grant and that it becomes a
formalized opportunity for other Sea Grant agents to take advantage of.
You can read a story about this exchange program.
- Dr. Gabby Bradt
Fisheries Extension Specialist, NH Sea Grant/UNH Cooperative Extension
As part of the event, the Holloway Commons staff, NH Sea Grant and Slow Fish UNH helped to create, gather, and set up the "decor". One of the most popular decorations was the " Catch a Redfish" photo "set" which consisted of a giant cardboard cut-out of a redfish and fishing pole on a dock and students lined up to have their picture taken. NH Fresh and Local Seafood T-shirts were also featured throughout the dining hall; many of the servers and other staff members wore them and they looked great! It was a great way to spread the word about the NH Fresh and Local Seafood Brand. One of our local lobstermen, Damon Frampton out of Portsmouth, lent UNH Dining some lobster traps and buoys and even though we tried to get a real dinghy, the Holloway staff was creative and decided to just build their own! 
