 Swawn McWhorter takes off a small box filled with eggs of the Golden Shiner fish during a tour of the Ag Incubator on S.R. 582.
Despite being in operation for nearly three years, the official ribbon-cutting and opening ceremony for the Bowling Green Aquaculture Center of Ohio State University was held on Wednesday. Material for new textbooks is being written on a daily basis through the research at the center which is located at the Agricultural Incubator Foundation on Ohio 582 near Haskins.
Among the dignitaries on hand for the ceremony was Dr. E. Gordon Gee, OSU's president.
Shawn McWhorter, a research associate and aquaculture specialist who operates the center and conducts much of the research at BGAC, is very excited about several new projects at the center.
"New protocol is being written here. They are tearing the sheets out of my notebook before I have them complete," McWhorter joked.
In addition to the ongoing research at the facility, McWhorter is now launching several new projects including a hatchery for bait fish, algae research and an aquaponic system which will use fish water to fertilize and grow plants without soil.
OSU has operated an aquaculture center in Piketon for many years, and the Bowling Green center will better serve the northern part of the state. McWhorter has worked with several area producers on raising bait fish.
Having the site in Wood County is important in order to be closer to the lucrative bait market near Lake Erie.
"We've already developed the protocol to teach (the producers) how to raise the fish," McWhorter said. "We're now going to back up one step further and develop a hatchery."
By developing the site and having the hatchery indoors, it will help get a head start on the bait fish season. The fish need warmer temperatures in order to spawn.
McWhorter also established a feed lab at the center which is studying the spot fin shiner, which could be a lucrative bait fish for aquaculture producers in the area. The spot fin shiner is native to Ohio and is normally found in fast-moving streams.
One of the producers is Tom Yingling of Bellevue, who spoke at the ceremonies on Wednesday.
Yingling says he has been in the aquaculture business for six years, which is considered a long time in Ohio.
"What really excites me is that what's being done here is very commercially viable," Yingling said.
He added the information coming out of the facility is being used on a regular basis on the farm. Yingling called the aquaculture business a ground-floor opportunity with a great potential for growth and profit. He also indicated it is a downside because it is a ground-floor industry, as the protocol for production, genetic and nutrition are being written today.
"It's really exciting to be part of this project," Yingling summarized.
Gee said the facility is part of the "new and exciting opportunities for aquaculture in Ohio."
McWhorter and Yingling are part of what is being called the Ohio Bait Association to develop and grow the bait fish industry, especially in this part of the state.
The algae production is currently used as feed for the fish, however McWhorter indicated the hope is to one day use it as a biofuel as well as for animal feed.
Dignitaries poured fertilizer into algae tanks to get those started.
McWhorter indicated the hope of the aquaponic system, which is housed in the greenhouse area, also at the Ag Incubator, is to place similar facilities within 100 miles of all metropolitan communities to cut down transportation costs of getting food to people.
It will take about three weeks before the plants are started at the site. McWhorter said the object is to harvest the effluents from the fish system and use drip irrigation to grow plants. The site will have a tank of tilapia and as the tank is cleaned the waste water from the fish will be filtered with the leftover nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous to be used to grow food.
One bay at the greenhouse will grow tomatoes, and a second will be for herbs. McWhorter also has a third bay for use to experiment with other foods.
"This is a very green approach to agriculture," McWhorter said. "There is a good niche market for this with so many people beginning to focus on going green."
 Tom Yingling says a few words at the start of the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Ag Incubator on S.R. 582. (Photos: Aaron Carpenter/Sentinel-Tribune)
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1Comment
at Tuesday, 01 July 2008 22:52
Shawn has an awesome facility and is doing some incredible work. His facility, which he designed, built, and operates himself, provides a glimpse of what aquaculture should be. His professionalism and degree of expertise raises the bar for aquaculture in Ohio. Shawn is a real asset to OSU, northwest Ohio, and the aquaculture industry in general.
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