Hawaii aquaculture gets federal funding boost

Hawaii aquaculture research will benefit from part of a $16 million federal funding package to improve Hawaii's agriculture.

Tropical Aquaculture Feeds Research will get $1,438,000. This USDA program, administered by the Oceanic Institute, is dedicated to determining the nutritional requirements of promising tropical fish species, developing feed processing methods, and finding alternative local ingredients to replace diminishing supplies of fishmeal, most commonly used in feeds for aquatic species. The program has been responsible for groundbreaking research in aquatic feeds for Pacific white shrimp, mahimahi, Pacific threadfin (moi), and amberjack (kahala).

$2,908,000 has been awarded to fund Marine Shrimp Research.

Releasing its preliminary analysis of the House version of the Fiscal 2010 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) cited these projects and two others as "outrageous examples of wasteful spending". There were 322 projects in the bill.

Citizens Against Government Waste describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.