DATE:            12/7/05
CONTACT:     Jack Whetstone, 843-546-6321 jwhtstn@clemson.edu
WRITER:         Stephanie Beard, 843-546-1013, ext. 232 slbeard@clemson.edu
 
AQUACULTURE SURVEY IN THE MAIL DEC. 15
 
GEORGETOWN – South Carolina fish farmers and aquaculture professionals soon will be receiving census forms from the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS). The census forms will be mailed Dec.15 to collect information about the aquaculture industry, including water area, production and sales, point of first sale outlets, farm labor, and species distributed for restoration or conservation.
 
“It is very important that all farmers, no matter the size of their operation, report their production,” said Jack Whetstone, aquaculture specialist with Clemson Extension and the South Carolina Sea Grant Extension. “It could have a dramatic effect on our farms and the future of the aquaculture industry in South Carolina .”
 
Information from the census helps improve aquaculture policies and programs, aids business marketing strategies, and allows research institutes to develop new and improved methods of production. 
 
South Carolina ’s aquaculture industry is extremely diverse compared to other states. Products include fish and shellfish for human consumption, bait, fish for stocking recreational ponds, seed stock for farmers in other states, fish for aquatic weed control, and fee-fishing operations. These are sold individually by producers, rather than sent to centralized processing plants, so the state has difficulty in determining the economic value of the industry.
 
For the purpose of the census, an aquaculture farm is defined as any commercial or noncommercial place from which $1,000 or more of aquacultural products were raised and sold, or raised for restoration, conservation, or recreational purposes during 2005.
 
Census recipients are asked to complete and return the forms within two weeks of receiving them, even if they had no aquaculture operation this year. Individual operation information will not be made public; but summarized results will be available on the NASS web site www.nass.usda.gov in the fall of 2006.  For more information, contact Jack Whetstone at 843-546-6321 or Jim Johnson at 803-253-3321.
 
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