Cape Eleuthera Institute Stocks Offshore Aquaculture Cage

The Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) began stocking an offshore cage with 2,000 cobia fingerlings in the first phase of its aquaculture project. A total of 7,000 fingerlings have been raised for the past three months in CEI's Wege Center for Sustainable Fisheries as part of an offshore aquaculture research project that is being conducted in collaboration with the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) and Alicorp, a Peruvian conglomerate that is supplying CEI with fish feed in exchange for data on the grow-out process.

On hand to see the stocking were three representatives of Alicorp and three graduate students of RSMAS assisted with the stocking.  The project is also made possible by Dan and Pamella DeVos, long-time supporters of The Island School and aquaculture at CEI.

CEI's aquaculture program aims to find a sustainable way to raise cultured fish in a time when wild stocks are severely overexploited and consumer demands for fish are rising. CEI is the first organization in The Bahamas to raise fingerlings from cobia brood stock through the delicate larval rearing life cycle.  A successful cobia grow out will demonstrate that aquaculture is a potentially viable industry for The Bahamas and could open the doors for larger investments in the future.

CEI has been engaged in open ocean aquaculture since 2003 with support from RSMAS, and in particular Dr. Daniel Benetti, worldwide expert on cobia aquaculture.  Assisting with the project is a small team of students from The Island School who are studying environmental effects of cage aquaculture and biological controls for predators.

The Island School is a three-month semester leadership program for high school students. Participants have come from over 300 schools to study the tropical marine environment and take place-based courses in math, history, English, and art. The Cape Eleuthera Institute is a marine research facility that works with universities to model sustainable systems and find solutions for resource management. Both programs are supported by the Cape Eleuthera Foundation.