CoastalScience@Work
Updates from the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium - Issue 24
November 24, 2021
Jump-Starting Careers for Students

The Consortium recently launched a Career webpage for undergraduate and graduate students who may be interested in potential job opportunities, fellowships, and locating a mentor in their field of study. The webpage introduces students to the Consortium, lists member institutions, staff, and former graduate assistants and fellows who have worked at our agency. Interested students may fill out a form on the webpage to be connected to a staff member who will mentor them. For more information, visit the Career webpage or contact Marlena Davis, Human Resources manager.
From Spent Brewery Grains to Sustainable Fish Food

Aquaculture production is growing worldwide, and there is an emerging need to develop new protein sources for nutritionally balanced, cost-effective, and sustainable ​fish feeds. As part of the Consortium’s 2020-2022 research portfolio, the Mariculture section at the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) is collaborating with three Charleston-area craft breweries —Low Tide Brewing, Holy City Brewing, and Tradesman Brewing Company​—to evaluate the potential of using dried spent grains from the beer-brewing process as an ingredient in fish feeds.
 
Researchers collected monthly samples from each brewery for one year to examine the nutritional composition of the spent grain material. They studied whether there were differences throughout the year or between the three breweries. The initial data reveal little difference either between breweries or over the course of time, an encouraging finding to be able to scale-up and use spent grains on a consistent basis.
 
The researchers are in the midst of conducting a digestibility trial to determine if juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) can digest and use the nutrients in the spent grains. Next, they will run a graded-tolerance feeding trial, using increasing quantities (0-35% of the diet) of spent grain in the feed formulation and evaluating growth of juvenile red drum.
(Editor’s note: Special thanks to Aaron Watson with SCDNR for providing this update.)
Recycled Shrimp Nets to Reduce Litter

Trawl2Trash is a new program developed by Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant in partnership with the Consortium and commercial shrimpers in Georgia and South Carolina. Through this project, which was funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, commercial shrimpers have the opportunity to earn money during the off-season by creating Trawl2Trash bags made from recycled shrimp net material.
 
Extension specialists from both Sea Grant programs will distribute the bags to recreational boaters, anglers, volunteers cleaning up litter in waterways, K-12 students, and the public so they can collect and properly dispose of marine debris. In addition, by participating in this project people will be educated about the negative impacts of marine debris and practice good environmental stewardship.
 
To learn more and/or participate in the program, visit the Trawl2Trash website or contact Graham Gaines, Living Marine Resources program specialist.
Students Discover Underwater Creatures with Bioracks

Translucent skeleton shrimp, barnacles, and tunicates (commonly known as “sea squirts”) are some of the nearly microscopic organisms inhabiting the sides of piers, pylons, docks, and jetties. These organisms, called fouling communities because they attach to artificial surfaces, are at the heart of the BioDiscovery Project. The project is a collaborative STEM (science-technology-engineering-math)-based initiative designed for teachers and students to examine the organisms that colonize these types of structures.
 
Participating schools use a biorack —a nylon rope with acrylic discs vertically spaced out over three meters and hung off of a floating dock— to study the organisms that settle onto the discs. Once the biorack has been submerged in water for several weeks, it is pulled out of the water and individual discs are placed under microscopes for students to study. Schools identify and catalogue as many organisms as they can and enter these data on the BioDiscovery Data Portal. Tracking species diversity and abundance over the course of a year can show variations based on location, seasonal changes, and water quality parameters. Schools monitor the changes on their own biorack, and they can collaborate with other participating schools to share and analyze different data sets. 
 
The BioDiscovery Project, supported through a Bosch Community Grant, is coordinated by the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission in partnership with the Consortium, College of Charleston Grice Marine Lab, and Clemson University. Interested teachers may contact E.V. Bell, Marine Education specialist, to learn about upcoming BioDiscovery Project workshops.


Wishing Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
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