The Oceanic Institute, Waimānalo, Hawai‘i, has announced the promotion of Dr. Charles W. Laidley, Ph.D. to Marine Finfish Program Manager.  In this role Dr. Laidley will manage the Institute’s groundbreaking research on the aquaculture of marine ornamental fish such as flame angelfish and yellow tang and foodfish such as red snapper, amberjack, and bluefin trevally.  Dr. Laidley succeeds Dr. Robin Shields, who has accepted a position with the University of Swansea in Swansea, southeast Wales, managing a new aquaculture research center.
“Dr. Laidley’s expertise in fish physiology and reproductive endocrinology has led to acclaimed success in the natural spawning and culture of marine fish.  Under Dr. Laidley’s direction, the Oceanic Institute will refine technologies for large-scale aquaculture of economically important food fish to advance commercial farming and to support research in the restoration of depleted coastal fisheries,” stated Dr. Thomas E. Farewell, President and CEO of The Oceanic Institute. 
“We are also looking forward to new achievements in the culture of difficult-to-rear tropical reef fish,” continued Dr. Farewell.  “I am confident that his leadership of the Institute’s finfish research will yield promising advances in aquaculture technology.”
Dr. Laidley joined the Oceanic Institute in 1999 as a marine fish reproductive physiologist following his term as Assistant Professor of Biology at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.  Previously Dr. Laidley gained considerable experience in environmental chemistry and toxicology as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Laidley obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive Endocrinology from the University of Texas at Austin.  He obtained a Master of Science in Stress Physiology and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. 
The Oceanic Institute, located in Hawai‘i, was founded in 1960. The Institute is a not-for-profit, applied research organization dedicated to the development of technology and applications in aquaculture, environmental science, and marine biotechnology.   The Oceanic Institute is affiliated with Hawai‘i Pacific University.