Annual Report Challenges. Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory

Transcription

1 Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory Annual Report 2005 Challenges The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr. ( )

2 Projects 2005 Highlights Continued investigation into the development of oyster brood stock for tolerance to low oxygen environments. Initiated a project investigating the role of Perkinsus marinus ( Dermo disease) infection in oyster reef restoration. Continued development of instructional CD, Oyster Hatchery Methods. Provided photographic input for creation of a poster titled, The Eastern Oyster: The Reef Builders of Estuaries, detailing the ecology, commercial importance and the life cycle of oysters. The Oyster Gardening Program, supported in partnership with Mobile Bay NEP, planted 11,000 oysters for reef restoration with the help of volunteers around the bay. Supported three graduate students and their associated research projects. Provided a summer internship for a high school student selected from Alma Bryant High School s aquaculture program. Provided assistance to seven researchers at five institutions in the form of lab space, oyster larvae, oyster seed or adult oysters. Donated and planted approximately seventy five thousand oysters on the Bon Secour Bay brood stock reserve. Production Produced over 42.5 million larvae. From that total, 29 million were delivered as larvae, 3.8 million were set to produce single oysters and 5.8 million were set on whole shell. Maintained 9 different stocks of adult oysters in Mobile Bay for brood stock, anticipated experiments, and use by other researchers. Facilities Separated intake pipeline from the pumphouse to hatchery into two redundant distribution systems to help control pipeline fouling. Installed sand fencing on the front beach in cooperation with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to retain sand from a Corp of Engineers beach renourishment project. Returned the AU Shellfish Lab to full functional capacity within twenty one days following Hurricane Katrina through careful advanced preparation and diligent effort. Tours and Meeting Hosted over 90 people from 9 groups as part of tours, lectures, or use of conference room facilities. 1

3 Introduction Each year at the Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory (AUSL) brings new challenges and 2005 was no exception. As the demand for oysters for research, habitat restoration and private aquaculture steadily increases, continual improvements in technique and procedure along with facility upgrades allow oyster production from the hatchery to increase to meet this demand. To further the research component of our mission, AUSL supported several Auburn University research projects and three graduate students with their research, as well as cooperative projects with researchers from other universities and agencies. AUSL s outreach objective was addressed through a continuing partnership with the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program s (MBNEP) in support of their volunteer based Oyster Gardening Program. Other public outreach efforts were provided through facility tours and lectures regarding shellfish production and research, and through the support and encouragement of local interest in oyster aquaculture. The third aspect of the AUSL mission, instruction, was fulfilled through cooperative course offerings at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL). Recurrent storms have proven to be an additional challenge to the success of research and production efforts. Hurricane Ivan impacted the facility in 2004, providing an excellent opportunity to assess our storm preparations and ability to recover after such an event. The lessons learned in Ivan allowed us to improve and streamline our readiness efforts as we faced the storms of Hurricane Dennis had little effect other than the disruption necessitated by preparation for its arrival, but Hurricane Katrina dealt a devastating blow to the entire Gulf coast. Careful preparation resulted in no loss of equipment and minimal damage to the facility beyond debris removal, cleanup, and some minor plumbing issues. It is also worth of note that there has been no loss of hatchery production in any of 2

4 these storms. As is rapidly becoming our habit, AUSL will continue to face our challenges with a weather eye for the opportunities they offer. Projects Hypoxia AUSL began a project in 2004 focusing on hypoxia tolerance in oysters and the potential for developing oysters more tolerant of low dissolved oxygen. Much of the early work was conducted by graduate student Courtney Ford as part of her master s thesis. The findings from the initial study were presented by Ms. Ford at the Alabama Fisheries Association Annual Meeting in February, 2005 in Auburn, AL and at the National Shellfish Association Annual Meeting in April, 2005 in Philadelphia, PA. Her work suggested that adult oysters from reefs that experience by hypoxia have significantly longer survival times than oysters from normoxic reefs. But breeding trials with parental oysters challenged with hypoxic conditions showed that offspring from normoxic reef parents showed the most improvement in survival over control oysters (Fig. 1). The findings suggest that the natural selection pressure on the hypoxia challenged reef may have already reached some maximum limit LT 50 (h) CP Control CP Experimental 1 WH Control WH Experimental 1 WH Experimental 2 Figure 1: Lethal Time to 50% mortality for F1 generation oysters from Cedar Point (CP) reef and Whitehouse (WH) reef brood stock. 3

5 Graduate student Susan Fogelson picked up the project in The offspring from the previous study were again challenged with hypoxia. The surviving oysters were kept for brood stock and returned to racks in Bon Secour Bay for spawning in Dr. Richard Wallace, Auburn University Marine Extension Research Center, (AUMERC) is the principal investigator for the project. Dermo disease A new two year project was initiated in 2005 investigating the role of Perkinsus marinus infection in oyster reef restoration. Perkinsus marinus is a systemic protozoan parasite that causes Dermo disease in oysters. Prolonged infection with P. marinus can lead to mortality in oysters. Dermo disease has been particularly devastating to oyster production on the East coast where growth rates are slow and oysters often succumb to Dermo disease before reaching harvestable size. It has been generally assumed that in the Gulf of Mexico, oysters tend to be harvested prior to deleterious effects of the disease. Often, oyster reef restoration projects result in creation of protected reefs that are closed to harvest. The current project focuses on the potential for these protected or unharvested reefs to serve as reservoirs of infection and assesses the potential impact on nearby harvested reefs. The goal of the project was to compare the effect of Dermo disease on oyster populations at unharvested and harvested reefs by comparing the density and size structure (proxy for age) of oyster populations, the prevalence and intensity of P. marinus, and mortality rates of existing oyster populations. Disease development was tracked in hatchery reared oysters placed at reefs with varied harvest pressure. In August of 2005, six harvested and six unharvested reefs were identified for use in the study. Oysters were collected for baseline population data and analysis of disease prevalence and intensity at each site (Fig. 2). This baseline data will be compared to samples to be taken in An experimental array was constructed at each reef site 4

6 composed of three mesh bags each containing 30 oysters collected from the reef. These oysters were checked monthly for mortality from August through the end of the year and will continue through Three additional reefs with differing harvest pressures Figure 2: Quadrat used to sample oyster reefs. were selected to track disease development in hatchery reared oysters. The three reefs chosen had heavy harvest pressure, moderate harvest pressure, and no harvest pressure (a newly created reef). Bags containing hatchery reared oysters were placed on these reefs and monitored monthly for mortality. Other hatchery reared oysters were maintained to provide samples for disease analysis. Mortality monitoring and disease analysis began in August, proceeded monthly through the end of the year, and will continue into Drs. Richard K. Wallace and Yolanda Brady are the principal investigators for this project. Funding is provided through the University of South Alabama s (USA) Alabama Oyster Reef Restoration Program and NOAA. The project also supports graduate student Dennis Donegan. Educational CD Development of an educational CD on the hatchery production of oysters began in Dr. LaDon Swann is the principle investigator on the project. In 2004, graduate student Melanie Rhodes outlined material and created storyboards for the CD as part of a directed study under Dr. Swann. Digital photographs of larval development were also taken in 5

7 2004 by Scott Rikard with AUSL (Fig. 3). Work on this project continued in 2005 with Jody Scanlan from AUMERC working with Dr. Swann on the program development of the CD. Figure 3: Eyed oyster larvae. The Eastern Oyster Poster Dr. LaDon Swann led the effort to create a poster called The Eastern Oyster: The Reef Builders of Estuaries (Fig. 4). Details of the poster describe the ecology, commercial importance and life cycle of the Eastern oyster. The poster was produced by Mississippi Alabama Seagrant Figure 4: The Eastern Oyster Poster and sponsored by several agencies including: The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Marine Resources Division; Mississippi Department of Marine Resources; Auburn University; University of South Alabama; and the Mobile Bay National 6

8 Estuary Program. Scott Rikard, with AUSL, provided various photographs of larval stages of oysters for the life cycle portion of the poster. Clam Culture Dr. LaDon Swann and graduate student Jonathan Jackson are in the planning stages of a research project on clam culture in Alabama. The study will investigate the potential of raising clams, Mercenaria mercenaria, in the waters of Grand Bay, Alabama. The project will compare on bottom growout methods with off bottom methods using Australian longline culture techniques. Summer Internship AUSL prides itself on meeting all challenges with a small but highly qualified staff. To that end, AUSL supported a summer internship for a high school student selected from Alma Bryant High School s aquaculture program. The student, Melissa Gathwright, was selected based on her enthusiasm for the program at Alma Bryant as well as her reliability and academic qualifications. AUSL anticipates an ongoing relationship with ABHS by supporting an intern each summer. Oyster Gardening AUSL continues to support of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) Oyster Gardening Project. In this project volunteers around Mobile Bay raise oysters in protective cages on waterfront property for restoration of oyster reefs (Fig. 5). The number of volunteers in Figure 5: Oyster gardening volunteer checking floating cages of oysters. 7

9 the 2005 program was down to 47 from approximately 60 the previous year due to the aftereffect of Hurricane Ivan in Many volunteers had lost piers where they raised oysters for the program and had not yet rebuilt. Production from the program was also limited in 2005 by the loss of many oysters and growing cages in Hurricane Katrina. AUSL s role in the Oyster Gardening Program is to provide the oyster spat for the volunteers and then recover the resulting larger oysters after growout for planting. AUSL set approximately 5 million eyed larvae on 45 bags of whole oyster shell for the project. Another 45 bags were placed on commercially productive Cedar Point Reef in Mobile Bay to catch natural set oyster spat. After 2 weeks in the field, bags were returned to AUSL and held in flow through tanks with those bags set at the hatchery until delivery to volunteers for growout. Volunteers grew the oysters for five months. The oysters were then collected by Kara Lankford with MBNEP and P. J. Waters with AUMERC and placed in flow through tanks at AUSL awaiting restoration to reefs in the bay. On November , MBNEP, AUMERC and AUSL personnel placed approximately 11,000 oysters on Kings Bayou Reef in Mobile Bay. Volunteers remain enthusiastic about their participation in the program even through the setbacks caused by the storms of 2004 and Helping Industry AUMERC and AUSL have assisted two novice oyster farmers for several years in establishing oyster aquaculture operations. Auburn personnel have worked with these individuals to set up culture systems and provide the farmers with post set spat from excess production from the AUSL hatchery. AUSL provided 84,000 oyster spat to these individuals in Both of these operations suffered significant setbacks due to Hurricane Katrina. AUSL looks forward to helping these operations return to productivity in the coming years. Since 2002, AUMERC has worked in partnership with Bon Secour Fisheries, Inc. to create a broodstock sanctuary in Bon Secour Bay, Alabama. The program originated with a 8

10 grant from the Ocean Trust and the National Fisheries Institute in conjunction with the NOAA Restoration Center. An area of existing hard bottom was built up with oyster shell and then planted with seed oysters grown by AUMERC on racks in Bon Secour Bay and oysters from MBNEP Oyster Gardening Program in In 2004, AUSL planted 110,000 seed oysters on this new reef at no cost to the project. In 2005, AUSL donated and planted approximately 100,000 oysters set on whole shell (30 bags) and another 30,000 single oysters on the reef. Assisting Other Researchers AUSL supplied oyster larvae for the second year in a row to Dr. Stephen Kempf in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University. These larvae were used for research on the structure and function of the larva's apical sensory ganglion (ASG). The ASG is thought to be the structure which senses the inductive cue for metamorphosis. In 2005, AUSL provided Dr. Kempf with 7 shipments totaling 2.7 million oyster larvae. AUSL provided lab space for Auburn fisheries graduate student Jeff Baker to process microbial isolates from fish for a project in the Mobile River. The project compares the prevalence of disease in fish captured on intake screens at Alabama Power s Barry Steam Plant facility and fish occurring naturally upstream from the plant. AUSL has worked closely with several researchers from the USA investigating various aspects of oyster reef restoration. AUSL began working with Dr. Ann Boettcher and graduate student Nobuo Ueda in 2004 and continued that collaborative effort in 2005 by supporting their research on the effects of temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen concentrations on larval settlement and metamorphosis. In addition, they examined the relationship between these environmental stresses and the expression of heat shock proteins. AUSL provided approximately 24.5 million larvae and 300,000 newly settled spat for this project in

11 AUSL also provided a variety of oysters to Dr. Sean Powers and Dr. Ken Heck from USA for field projects investigating oyster reef restoration. AUSL provided 1900 adult single oysters from 2004 production as well as 5000, 13mm single spat and 650, 35mm single spat from the 2005 years production. AUSL also set 4 million larvae on 60 bags of whole shell for Dr. Powers use. USA post doctoral researcher Keith Bayha working with Dr. Monty Graham at DISL is investigating the use of molecular probes to identify oyster larvae in plankton samples. AUSL provided 1.5 million larvae of various sizes and stages to ground truth the molecular probes. Jim Weston, a doctoral student at the University of Mississippi (UM), is investigating the effect of mosquito controlling pesticides on the development of oyster larvae. AUSL initiated a spawn and raised approximately 5 million oyster larvae for the project and provided lab space and housing for Mr. Weston for 5 days from July 26 th through July 30 th. AUSL was able to assist Brooks High School student Lacy Casteel with a science fair project dealing with calcium uptake in oysters. AUSL shipped Miss Casteel 150 adult oysters for use in her project. AUSL has a long standing relationship with Alma Bryant High School in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, dating back to the initiation of the school s aquaculture program in In 2005, AUSL donated 500 adult oysters to the program for use in controlling suspended algae in a redfish rearing tank. 10

12 Production Oyster Spawning AUSL conducted four separate spawns on the following dates in 2005 for the stated projects or purposes: May 18 MBNEP Oyster Gardening Project USA heat shock protein project (Nobuo Ueda and Dr. Anne Boettcher) USA oyster restoration projects (Drs. Sean Powers and Ken Heck) AU apical sensory ganglion function (Dr. Steve Kempf) Single oyster production for stock maintenance July 27 August 2 October 12 UM pesticide project (Jim Weston) AU apical sensory ganglion function (Dr. Steve Kempf) AU apical sensory ganglion function (Dr. Steve Kempf) USA molecular probe development (Drs. Keith Bayha and Monty Graham) Oyster Larvae The 2005 oyster spawns resulted in 42.5 million larvae being raised for the following projects or purposes: 25.5 million USA heat shock protein project (Nobuo Ueda and Dr. Anne Boettcher) 2.7 million AU apical sensory ganglion function (Dr. Steve Kempf) 5.0 million UM pesticide project (Jim Weston) 1.5 million USA molecular probe development (Drs. Keith Bayha and Monty Graham) 1.9 million Set on micro cultch to produce single oyster spat million Set on whole shell. 11

13 Oyster Seed Oysters set on micro cultch or whole shell were distributed for the following projects or purposes: 5000 Single oyster (13 mm) USA oyster restoration projects (Drs. Sean Powers and Ken Heck) 30,000 Single oysters planted on the Bon Secour Bay brood stock sanctuary 80,000 Single oysters 4 to 8mm Private aquaculture interest (Steve Crockett) 4,000 Singles oysters 4 to 8mm Private aquaculture interest (Steve Meyers) 10,000 Single oysters placed on racks in Bon Secour Bay for future use. 60 Bags Approximately 100,000 spat set on whole shell USA oyster restoration projects (Drs. Sean Powers and Ken Heck) 90 Bags Approximately 150,000 spat set on whole shell MBNEP oyster gardening project. 30 Bags Approximately 50,000 spat set on whole shell Bon Secour Bay brood Large Oysters stock sanctuary. AUSL and AUMERC maintained 9 different stocks of oysters on racks in Bon Secour Bay. Some of these oysters date back to AUSL production from Oysters from stocks on the racks were distributed for the following projects or purposes: 1900 Single oysters from 2004 production USA oyster restoration projects (Drs. Sean Powers and Ken Heck) 500 Single oysters from 2004 production Alma Bryant High School Aquaculture Program 150 Single oysters from 2003 production Calcium uptake in oysters (Brooks High School student, Lacy Casteel) 650 Single oysters from 2004 production USA oyster restoration projects (Drs. Sean Powers and Ken Heck) 12

14 Facilities Pipelines The seawater intake system at AUSL consists of two pipelines coming into the pumphouse and two pipelines exiting. In the original system design, those two pipes joined to form a common supply line to AUSL s two large reservoir tanks and to a raw water loop in the hatchery. A second loop in the hatchery distributed water from the reservoirs. That configuration allowed a build up of bio fouling on the interior of the common supply line and the raw water loop in the hatchery. In 2005, personnel from AUSL and AUMERC modified the system by splitting the common supply line into two separate pipelines. By adding a series of valves, both hatchery loops are now interchangeable and both can be used for raw water or reservoir water (Fig. 6). The modifications resulted in two completely independent pumping systems. The systems can now be alternated to allow the idle system to go anoxic and kill fouling organisms before they become large enough to restrict water flow. The modifications will help maintain a constant water Figure 6: Valving arrangement for seawater distribution system. flow capacity. Beach An Army Corps of Engineers dredge and maintenance project provided material for renourishment of the beach in front of AUSL and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL). AUSL, 13

15 in cooperation with DISL, installed sand fencing in an attempt to retain sand and build dunes on the back portion of the beach. DISL provided the sand fencing and personnel from AUSL and AUMERC installed the fencing. Hurricanes AUSL s hurricane plan was tested in 2004 with Hurricane Ivan. As it turned out, that was good practice for the 2005 hurricane season. AUSL was threatened by two storms this past year, Hurricanes Dennis and Katrina. Preparation for Hurricane Dennis began on July 6 th with the installation of hurricane shutters on the building. Removal of all backup pumps and blowers took place on July 7 th. The remaining pumps were removed on July 8 th and all pumps were transported to Mobile, Alabama for safe storage. Equipment and small tanks under the building that could move under high winds or float away were moved upstairs to the interior of the building. Oysters in the hatchery were maintained in static systems. The storm took a more northerly track as it neared the coastline bringing the storm ashore to the east at Santa Rosa Island, Florida. Dauphin Island and the AUSL facility suffered very little damage due to Hurricane Dennis. AUSL was fully operational with the re installation of main intake and discharge pumps, as well as air blowers on Monday July 11 th. With an unusually active hurricane season, the decision was made to not install backup pumps until they were needed. That decision saved valuable time as preparations for Hurricane Katrina were completed in one day on August 26 th. Again, hurricane shutters were installed and all pumps were moved to Mobile, Alabama for safe storage. Hurricane Katrina became one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history as it came ashore near the mouth of the Pearl River along Mississippi Louisiana border on August 29 th. The storm had significant impacts along the Alabama coast even though it made landfall far to the west. The storm cut passes across the west end of Dauphin Island and caused tremendous storm 14

16 surge damage to structures on the west end of the island and in the coastal towns of Bayou La Batre and Coden. Flooding was pronounced along the entire western shore of Mobile Bay. AUSL incurred no major structural damage to the building or pumphouse but had significant impact to the hatchery facility under the building. The storm pushed 3 ½ to 4 feet of water under the building, dislodging tanks and breaking plumbing to the tanks (Fig. 7 & 8). Debris carried in by the storm surge caused the security fence on the south side of the facility to collapse (Fig. 9). An estimated 54 cubic yards of debris was pushed up under the building. Three 1000 gallon fiberglass tanks were destroyed (Fig. 10). The AUSL facility manager was able to return to the facility the day after the storm on August 30 th to assess damage and start a generator to run laboratory refrigerators, freezers, and life support systems for oysters in the hatchery. AUMERC and AUSL personnel returned on September 1 st to move critical samples stored in freezers and refrigerators to AUMERC s Mobile, Alabama office. All the oysters in the hatchery were moved to open waters under the DISL boat dock. Debris removal began on September 6 th and was completed on September 9 th. Primary intake and discharge pumps were re installed on September 12 th. Power service was restored that same day. After an assessment of the intake pipeline, water flow was re established to the hatchery. Re plumbing of hatchery tanks took place between September 13th and September 16 th. The oysters held at the DISL boat dock were returned to the hatchery on September 19 th and the facility was restored to full operation 21 days after Hurricane Katrina. 15

17 AUSL ANNUAL REPORT 2005 Figure 7: Debris and tanks washed into back corner of hatchery. Figure 8: Tanks dislodged and broken away from plumbing. Figure 9: Collapsed south security fence. Figure 10: Destroyed 1000 gallon tanks. Instruction Dr. LaDon Swann taught Marine Aquaculture through the DISL summer school program. This course introduced students to techniques in marine aquaculture with emphasis in the areas of nutrition and feeding, reproductive biology, production techniques, water quality requirements, processing, marketing, and economics of commercially important marine aquaculture species. AUSL facility manager Scott Rikard provided assistance with 16

18 lab work related to oyster culture as well as providing a guest lecture on bullminnow aquaculture. Facility Tours and Lectures In 2005, AUSL provided tours to several groups and allowed use of conference room facilities for various meetings. On April 18 th and 19 th, twelve students from The Alabama School of Math and Science came to AUSL for a series of lectures on oyster ecology and aquaculture as well as a tour of the facility. The group also toured oyster gardening sites and participated in building cages for the Oyster Gardening Program. Oak Park Christian School brought 20 7 th and 8 th students to AUSL for a facility tour and lecture on oyster hatchery production. Mary Susan Jones, a representative from U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions office, toured AUSL. As part of their Center of Ocean Science Education Excellence Workshop, DISL brought nine individuals to AUSL for a tour of the facility on June 9 th. Ten students from the DISL Research Experience for Undergraduates program visited AUSL for a presentation on oyster hatchery production and a tour of the facility on June 22nd. As part of their Marine Application of Science and Technology Workshop, DISL brought nine individuals to AUSL for a tour of the facility on June 23 rd. Seven undergraduate students from the Auburn University Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture came to AUSL for a tour and lecture on July 26 th as part of Dr. Bill Daniels Introduction to Fisheries Science course. Fourteen students from an aquaculture class at the University of West Florida came to AUSL for a hatchery production lecture and facility tour. 17

19 Dr. John Supan and two students from the Louisiana State University visited AUSL. The focus of the visit was a discussion of design options for a hatchery to be built in Grand Isle, Louisiana after Dr. Supan s existing hatchery was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Plans were also discussed for allowing Dr. Supan and his students to use the AUSL facility in the Spring of Media and Presentations In 2005 an article about AUSL was published in the MBNEP s oyster gardening newsletter and several presentations were given regarding research conducted at the facility. Rikard, Scott Hatchery production of oysters at AUSL. Mobile Bay Oyster Gardening Program Newsletter, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, April 2005, p. 4. Ford, Courtney, Scott Rikard, and Richard K. Wallace The search for a more hypoxia tolerant oyster. Alabama Fisheries Association Annual Meeting, Auburn, AL. February, Ford, Courtney, Scott Rikard, and Richard K. Wallace The search for a more hypoxia tolerant oyster. J. Shellfish Res. 24(2):654. National Shellfish Association, Annual Meeting, April, Rikard, Scott, Richard K. Wallace, and Chris Nelson Oyster Reef Restoration in Bon Secour Bay, Alabama. Alabama/Mississippi Estuarine Habitat Restoration Workshop, Pelican Landing, MS, February, Challenges for 2006 Work will continue in 2006 on development of a hypoxia tolerant oyster. Brood stock selected from the F 1 generation in 2005 will be bred to see if further enhancements to hypoxia tolerance can be obtained. AUSL will continue to work with Dr. Ann Boettcher and Nobuo Ueda at USA on heat shock protein research by providing oyster larvae and spat. The project initiated in 2005 assessing Dermo disease will continue through 2006 and into As in 2005, AUSL will provide oysters for many other researchers and continue to work with individuals interested in oyster aquaculture. 18

20 AUSL will again supply oysters for the MBNEP Oyster Gardening Project. Volunteer numbers are expected to remain low in 2006 due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Katrina. Volunteer numbers should increase as recovery from the storms of the past two years progresses. Summer school courses will be taught in conjunction with DISL. Marine Fish Diseases and Marine Aquaculture will both be offered. Dr. Yolanda Brady from Auburn University Fisheries Department will teach Marine Fish Diseases in the summer of Dr. Hugh Hammer from Gasden State Community College will take over the teaching of the Marine Aquaculture course from Dr. Swann but AUSL personnel will continue to assist with the course. In the coming year, AUSL will continue to provide tours and lectures to various groups visiting the Lab. As we have for the past two years, tours and lectures will be provided for Discovery Hall programs and the REU program at DISL. The coming year will present its own challenges, some known as well as some that cannot be anticipated. AUSL will thrive as it faces these challenges whether they are driven by mission objectives or presented by Mother Nature. Acknowledgements The 2005 report was prepared by: Scott Rikard, Manager Richard K. Wallace, Director Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory (AUSL) Auburn University Marine Extension 150 Agassiz Street and Research Center (AUMERC) Dauphin Island, Alabama Commanders Dr Ph: Mobile, AL Ph: Contributors: Blan Page (AUMERC), Glen Chaplin (AUMERC), Phillip Waters (AUMERC), LaDon Swann (Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and Auburn University), and students Courtney Ford, Susan Fogelson, Dennis Donegan, and Jonathan Jackson (Auburn University Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture) Thank you: George Crozier and Staff (Dauphin Island Sea Lab) 19