GLIN==> Press release: Cornell researcher & NY Sea Grant specialist receive 1st-ever award

Immediate Use Press Release: October 20, 2010
Contact:  Dave MacNeill, NY Sea Grant, 315-312-3042; Dr. Paul Bowser,
Cornell University, 607-253-4029

Jpg also available in high res from karalynn at gisco.net:  New York Sea Grant
Fisheries Specialist Dave MacNeill (left) and Cornell University researcher
Dr. Paul Bowser (foreground)


Cornell Researcher and NY Sea Grant Specialist Receive First-Ever Award
Recognized for translating Great Lakes fish disease science for the general
public

Ithaca, NY, October 20, 2010 - Cornell University researcher Dr. Paul Bowser
and New York Sea Grant (NYSG) Fisheries Specialist Dave MacNeill are the
recipients of the Sea Grant Association¹s (SGA) ³Research to Application
Award.² The first-ever honor recognizes one researcher or research team for
the successful and continued real-world application of a Sea Grant-funded
research project conducted during the past 20 years.

Bowser and MacNeill were recognized at Sea Grant Week in New Orleans,
Louisiana last week for demonstrating how their work on Viral Hemorrhagic
Septicemia Virus (VHSV) ­ which has caused significant mortality events in a
wide diversity of fish species as well as restrictions on the movement of
live fish in the Great Lakes Basin ­ is being applied and utilized in a
non-academic setting.

In New York, the non-treatable viral fish pathogen poses a potential threat
to the sportfishing industry which contributes $1.4 billion annually to the
State¹s economy, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates.  While
the virus has not been found in fish culture facilities, the adverse impact
of VHSV in aquaculture could be significant.

³Receiving such an award was a true honor,² said Bowser, a faculty member of
Cornell University¹s College of Veterinary Medicine since 1985. ³Having the
research results benefit the end user is very satisfying.
 
³During my career with New York Sea Grant, I¹ve had opportunities to work on
some of the most interesting and challenging issues facing Great Lakes
fisheries,² said MacNeill. ³In so doing, I¹ve been privileged to have worked
closely with world-class scientists such as Dr. Paul Bowser and Dr. Jim
Casey. Receiving accolades for ones work is gratifying, but receiving them
from Sea Grant colleagues is a tremendous honor.²

Through funding by NYSG and other sources, VHSV research by Bowser and the
members of the Aquatic Animal Health Program at Cornell have provided
detailed information about the virus, its spread, and its impact on Great
Lakes fisheries, as well as sensitive detection methods. This information
has been used by MacNeill and others to inform the fishing community and
other important stakeholders of methods to limit virus spread and minimize
its impact. 

³This is a compelling example of the application of Sea Grant research to an
important coastal problem,² said MacNeill, who is working with Bowser to
develop a NYSG fact sheet on the strain of VHSV being studied in the Aquatic
Animal Health Program at Cornell.
 
Also, in December 2009 and June 2010, NYSG partnered with Lake Champlain and
Pennsylvania Sea Grant programs to run, respectively, regional aquaculture
workshops in Albany, New York and Lamar, Pennsylvania.

³This effort is an excellent case of the leverage of funds originally
provided by New York Sea Grant,² said NYSG Director Jim Ammerman. ³It has
also helped to establish Dr. Bowser¹s lab as one of the premier groups
working on VHSV as well as to support these stakeholder workshops.²

At the meetings, which were funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture¹s Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center, MacNeill, Bowser and
Dr. James Casey, also of Cornell, provided a summary of the VHSV
information, including disinfection, containment and prevention protocols
developed in Bowser¹s lab as well as general bio-security measures that can
be taken by the fish culturist.
 
³VHSV has the potential to cause serious fish losses as well as significant
economic losses, especially to commercial aquaculture and bait dealers,²
said MacNeill. ³And so, we are taking steps to inform fisheries
professionals and the aquaculture community about viral spread and
containment policy in an effort to protect wild fish stocks and maintain the
viability of aquaculture in the Northeast States.²

Based on workshop evaluations, 100 percent of workshop attendees indicated
that they would utilize these guidelines in their own fish rearing
facilities and share the information with other aquaculture practitioners.

In other VHSV outreach news, a poster created by Bowser and his colleagues ­
Dr. Rod Getchell, Dr. Geoffrey Groocock, Emily Cornwell, Kristine Hope,
Rufina Casey, and Dr. James Casey ­ was presented in the Sea Grant Research
to Application special session at the February 2010 Ocean Sciences meeting.

Background on Award Recipients, NYSG and SGA
 
In addition to his work on VHS impacts, MacNeill conducts outreach on a
variety of other fisheries issues of concern to diverse audiences along Lake
Ontario, Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River. These include: fisheries
sustainability, ecosystem changes, management under uncertainty, decision
analysis, and trawl assessment. MacNeill also works closely with
researchers, assessment biologists and extension colleagues in the Great
Lakes and Northeast Atlantic states to identify research and extension needs
to address information barriers for extension program implementation.
 
Dr. Bowser was the recipient of the State University of New York
Chancellor¹s Award for Faculty Service in 2007. In 2009, Dr. Bowser received
the S. F. Snieszko Distinguished Service Award from the Fish Health Section
of the American Fisheries Society, which is a career achievement award for
his contributions and service to the field of aquatic animal medicine.

The Sea Grant Association (SGA) is a non-profit organization comprised
primarily of Sea Grant directors that advocates for greater understanding,
use, and conservation of the U.S.¹s marine, coastal and Great Lakes
resources. SGA provides both a unified voice for Sea Grant¹s 32
university-based programs on issues of importance to the oceans and coasts
as well as the mechanism for these institutions to coordinate their
activities and set priorities at both the regional and national level.

New York Sea Grant is part of this nationwide network of programs that work
with coastal communities. The National Sea Grant College Program engages
this network of the nation¹s top universities in conducting scientific
research, education, training, and extension projects designed to foster
science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic
resources.

You can find NYSG online at www.nyseagrant.org <http://www.nyseagrant.org> ,
follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/nyseagrant
<http://www.twitter.com/nyseagrant> , ³like² us on Facebook,
www.facebook.com <http://www.facebook.com>  (Search: New York Sea Grant),
and subscribe to our YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/NYSeaGrant
<http://www.youtube.com/NYSeaGrant> .
------------------------------
More Info Š
VHSV news archives:
http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/glsportfish/article.asp?ArticleID=170#1
<http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/glsportfish/article.asp?ArticleID=170#1>

NYSG GL Fisheries:
http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/glsportfish
<http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/glsportfish>


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