News Archives 2007           current topics

• Blue Crab Computer Model Workshop Scheduled for April 5
• Rick Huffman of Pickens Wins 2006 Environmental Awareness Award
  
• Fisheries Research Grant Proposals Sought

Blue Crab Computer Model Workshop Scheduled for April 5

Contact:
Susan Ferris Hill, (843) 953-2078 or susan.ferris.hill@scseagrant.org
Amber Von Harten, (843) 470-3655, ext. 112 or ambervh@clemson.edu

Charleston, S.C.— The S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and Clemson University have scheduled two blue crab computer model workshops on April 5 at the SCDNR Marine Resources Research Institute, 217 Fort Johnson Road, in Charleston. The free workshops are open to anyone interested in learning more about how the blue crab model works and what it can reveal about the future of blue crabs in South Carolina. Registration for each workshop is limited to 15 people so that individualized, hands-on training on how to use the model can be provided.  To sign up contact Amber Von Harten, S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program fisheries specialist, at (843) 470-3655 ext. 112 or via e-mail at ambervh@clemson.edu.

The first workshop, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., will focus on how the model was created, and its use in population analysis and fisheries management. The second workshop, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., will cover how to use the model to track crab movements, trap efficiency and the impact of changes in water quality on blue crab populations.

Dr. Michael Childress of Clemson University and Dr. Elizabeth Wenner of SCDNR created the computer model, called the South Carolina Blue Crab Regional Abundance Biotic Simulation (SCBCRABS), to study how water pollution, winter freezes, habitat destruction, tropical storms and fishing pressure affects the blue crab commercial fishery. SCBCRABS was developed with support from the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. For more information about the SCBCRABS project and to see the model in action, visit www.clemson.edu/SCBCRABS.

The S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program is a joint outreach program of the Clemson University Extension Service and the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, a university-based state agency, seeks to maximize the economic, social and environmental potential of the state’s coastal and marine resources through the support of integrated research, education and extension programs.

Rick Huffman of Pickens Wins 2006 Environmental Awareness Award

Rick Huffman has been named winner of the 2006 South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award.

In a ceremony Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at the South Carolina State House, Tom Davis, Governor Mark Sanford's Chief of Staff, announced the winner and recognized Huffman for outstanding contributions toward the protection, conservation and improvement of South Carolina's natural resources.

Huffman, who lives in Pickens, is being honored for his many achievements including founding the South Carolina Native Plant Society in 1996. “Our winner has logged hundreds of thousands of miles and thousands of hours in the development of the Society into a statewide organization with four regional chapters and numerous successful programs and initiatives,” Davis said.

The Society is an organization whose considerable resources of time, people and money are focused on preserving and restoring native plant communities and in educating the public on the character and importance of native plant communities.

“Due to the hard work of our winner and the many volunteers of the Society, they now own the Lisa Matthews Memorial Carolina Bay; a 52-acre property managed for the protection of the endangered Canby’s Dropwort and other Carolina Bay species,” Davis added. 

In addition, Huffman co-founded, along with US Forest Service soil scientist Dennis Law, the joint S.C. Native Plant Society/USFS native seed collection program.  This very successful program has enabled the US Forest Service in South Carolina to shift almost entirely to local source seeds of native grasses and some wildflowers in their vegetation restoration programs in the three Districts of the Sumter National Forest. 

The S.C. General Assembly established the S.C. Environmental Awareness Award in 1992 to recognize outstanding contributions toward the protection, conservation and improvement of South Carolina's natural resources.

The award is sponsored by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the S.C. Forestry Commission.

Previous winners include:
    2004 - John L. Knott, Jr., owner of the Noisette Company in North Charleston
    2001 - James D. Elliott, Jr., founder, South Carolina Center for Birds of Prey
    1998 - Yancey A. McLeod, Jr., environmental educator, Eastover
    1996 - Beaufort County Clean Water Task Force
    1994 - Marion Burnside, chairman, S.C. Department of Natural Resources
    1992 - Rudy Mancke, S.C. Educational Television

Fisheries Research Grant Proposals Sought

Contact:
Susan Ferris Hill, (843) 953-2078 or susan.ferris.hill@scseagrant.org
Amber Von Harten, (843) 470-3655, ext. 112 or ambervh@clemson.edu

Charleston, S.C.—The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium has partnered with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) to develop a Cooperative Fisheries Research Grant program. 

The two-year competitive grant program will address commercial and recreational marine fisheries issues. Proposals are being requested from commercial fishermen and recreational fishing groups for the purpose of developing innovative and creative research projects that will address important fisheries management issues.  Pre-proposals are due at the Consortium office by 5:00 p.m. on March 12, 2007.

Funding will be awarded for competitive projects that address important issues in five main topic areas: resource assessment projects to help understand different aspects of fish populations; fisheries biology projects to examine fish population interactions; socio-economic investigative proposals to work with fishermen to understand financial and personal connections, as well as a history of South Carolina fisheries; fishery management projects to assess how fish populations are managed; and sustainable harvesting technology proposals to research environmentally sound and economically feasible tools and techniques for landing fish. 

Information about how to apply for and submit a research proposal is available on the Web at http://www.scseagrant.org. A list of funding priorities for 2007 and projects funded in 2006 can be found within the Request for Proposals document.

For more information, contact Amber Von Harten, fisheries extension specialist with the S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program, at ambervh@clemson.edu or (843) 470-3655 ext. 112 or Jason Powers, Cooperative Fisheries Research program coordinator with SCDNR, at powersj@dnr.sc.gov or (843) 953-6608

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