Southeast/Gulf/Caribbean Region

Florida Sea Grant
Sea Grant produces compounds with commercial potential, helping launch Florida biotechnology firm

• Some marine organisms produce chemical compounds with commercial potential, yet one of the greatest hurdles is sustainable production of the compounds in sufficient quantities.
• Collection of organisms from the wild is possible at a limited scale, but is not sustainable because it is both ecologically harmful and prohibitively expensive. 
• A Sea Grant researcher and colleagues at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution are exploring potential solutions to the sustainable production of various compounds, including anti-inflammatories, a potential cancer treatment and cosmetics.
• In one project, the goal has been to develop a biotechnological production method of elisabethadione, a potent anti-inflammatory agent produced by the sea whip.
• Research has laid the groundwork for the cloning of an important biosynthetic gene. This should accelerate similar work with other marine organisms.
• Based on success in this and other Sea Grant projects, the investigator and collaborators have formed Tequesta Marine Biosciences. This company may be the first of its kind devoted exclusively to marine biotechnology in Florida.

Georgia Sea Grant
Sea Grant mapping project helps remove damaged dumpsters from groundwater and aquifer recharge areas

• A number of Brantley County dumpsters were identified as missing lids or drain plugs.
• Little or no security at the dump sites encouraged the illegal disposal of many major pollutants.
• In addition, many of the sites are located in aquifer recharge areas and/or areas determined to be susceptible to ground water pollution.
• Sea Grant compiled critical data about these susceptible sites by obtaining GPS information for the identified dumpster sites and overlaying it on Southeast Georgia Regional Development Center GIS maps.
• The information provided by these maps enabled county officials to move the dumpsters from recharge areas.

Louisiana Sea Grant
Sea Grant eliminates organic contaminants from menhaden oil

• Fish oil is an important ingredient in pet foods and aquaculture feeds, but organic contaminants have kept the processed product from being sold in lucrative international markets. 
• A Sea Grant researcher demonstrated a simple refining process to eliminate dioxin from crude fish oil. 
• A fish oil producer operating in the Gulf of Mexico has implemented this process and is now able to deliver product that meets European Union specifications. 

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant
Sea Grant Vibrio-detection technology increases accuracy and speed while lowering costs

• The microbial safety of seafood is important for sustained consumer confidence, which in turn, ensures the industrys' financial growth and stability.
• Sea Grant found a specific phage-displayed peptide bound to a surface protein to detect pathogenic vibrios.
• The technology is an accurate, low-cost method to rapidly detect pathogenic Vibrio bacteria. Sea Grant's new, cutting-edge Vibrio-detection technologies have been adopted by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
• These technologies could be used to rapidly detect pathogenic vibrios in oyster tissue so that consumers are assured a safe, quality product.

Puerto Rico Sea Grant
Sea Grant develops storm surge vulnerability maps

• The University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant Program developed a storm surge flood model that assesses individual and community vulnerability on the coasts of Puerto Rico.
• New GIS maps were prepared by incorporating current coastal flood maps with satellite images and census data.
• The census data includes socio-economic and demographic information which produces a more accurate representation of which, and to what degree, coastal community members are at risk.
• In the future, these maps will be available to planners, managers, and public officials throughout the island via a new interactive software program that will allow them to click on census blocks and view pertinent information about who lives in these vulnerable coastal areas.
• The data from this research was also used to develop the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, which led to Mayaguez, the third largest city in Puerto Rico, being certified as the first tsunami-ready city on the Island.
• These maps will greatly benefit the approximately 1.4 million people in Puerto Rico who live in flood-sensitive zones.

South Carolina Sea Grant
Southeast Regional Association for IOOS: Sea Grant helps integrate coastal ocean observing capabilities in the southeast U.S.

• The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium is serving as the lead organization, under the terms of a grant awarded by the NOAA Coastal Services Center, to foster the establishment of a Regional Association for the coastal ocean observing system network in the Southeastern coastal ocean region of the United States.
• The Southeast Coastal Ocean Observations Regional Association, (SECOORA: see http://secoora.org), will ultimately be responsible for administrative, operational, and budgetary aspects of the southeastern observing system network, and will be a member of the emerging National Federation of Regional Associations that will serve as the network for the Ocean.US office.

Texas Sea Grant
Floating Classroom Program seeking support for student cruises of Galveston Bay

• Businesses, organizations and individuals in the Houston-Galveston area have a unique opportunity to support youth cruises this spring aboard the Texas Sea Grant's Floating Classroom Program's research vessel and reward themselves with a special VIP cruise. 
• The Floating Classroom is a unique field study program that uses a 57-foot converted shrimp boat, the R/V Karma, as its mobile teaching campus. It offers hands-on learning experiences year round for students in grades 4 through 12 from its usual homeport of Matagorda.
• The boat will have a limited engagement in the Galveston area, and the program will provide an exclusive two hour discovery cruise to any individual, business or organization that financially sponsors at least two full days of educational cruises for area youth, including school groups or youth organization members.
• The Floating Classroom Program is a joint outreach initiative of Texas A&M University's Texas Cooperative Extension and the Texas Sea Grant College Program.