 The flat fertile fields of eastern North Carolina grow a variety of crops. Corn, potatoes, and small grain do well here. But with the changing face of American agriculture, farmers are always looking for ways to diversify their operations and increase their profits. Here on this farm in Beaufort County, North Carolina, there's a new crop being grown that's showing good promise for profitability. This harvest represents the beginning of a new aquaculture industry. It's a budding enterprise that could become for North Carolina farmers what channel catfish means to Mississippi growers. Lee Brothers is raising and marketing hybrid striped bass. The fish is a cross between a striped bass and a white bass. And in just two years, Lee Brothers has gone from scratch to selling his fish to upscale restaurants in the North. It is nice. It's nice. The thing I'm really excited about is I am providing a good quality fish to whoever buys them. I mean they're fresh fish. You can't beat them. I think Lee Brothers has been an excellent example of how to raise hybrid striped bass. He's an innovative person. He's very outgoing. He's willing to look at all the angles. He makes his own decisions. He's a classic innovative type of person I think. Lee Brothers quality product is the result of 10 years of research by UNC Sea Grant, the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service, and the National Coastal Resources Research and Development Institute. Their work has centered on finding a replacement for the popular native striped bass whose populations have dwindled. The result is this hybrid. It grows faster, is more disease-resistant, and hardier than either of its parents. Because of suitable water quality and climate, the hybrid striped bass grows well in the southeast. And the market potential is promising for the hybrid since striped bass are already popular in restaurants. Well the best markets right now are in the northeast to white tablecloth type restaurants. The hybrid is replacing what used to be a large market for the striped bass, and so that's where most of the fish are going. Those markets are expanding to all large cities that have or large enough to have white tablecloth restaurants. We think in the future this fish will be highly marketable in Japan and Europe. Using on-farm tests, researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered the essential requirements and best conditions for growing hybrid striped bass in the southeast. Flat, easily drained clay soils for ponds and an adequate supply of good quality water are important. Water can come from wells, springs, reservoirs, or streams. Whatever the source, there must be enough water available to fill a pond completely within 10 days. Of the four sources, wells are best because of their high water quality and reliability in dry weather. Brackish water can also be used in hybrid culture and seems to improve survival rates during times when the fish must be handled. Maintaining the proper water conditions is important for growing healthy fish. A calcium level of 100 parts per million or higher is desirable. Temperature and dissolved oxygen should be monitored mornings and evenings. Aerators are used to keep the dissolved oxygen levels above four parts per million. Hybrid striped bass grow at water temperatures between 55 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. A good deal of thought should go into deciding how the aquaculture production area should be laid out. The hybrids are raised in standard aquaculture ponds that are levied all around and have flat clean bottoms for easy saining. The recommended size for fingering ponds is two to four acres and five to ten acres for grow-out ponds. The top of the perimeter levies should be 16 to 20 feet wide to prevent erosion. For most soil types, the levee slope should be three to one. The pond grade should slope toward the toe so that the pond can be drained completely in about a week's time. The drain structure itself can follow a variety of models. Most states require permits for an aquaculture facility. Before beginning work, you should check with your local Department of Agriculture to find out the regulations. Once the ponds are built and filled with water, it's time to set up the hatchery. Broodstock to produce hybrid striped bass must be collected during their spring spawning migration. Depending on the location, spawning runs for striped bass occur from March to May in coastal rivers or rivers flowing into large reservoirs. Broodstock, especially females, should be handled carefully. To avoid overly stressing the fish, Honaldon or MS-222 is often used to sedate the fish. Fish are transported in saline water. It's important to keep the water at the same temperature as when the fish were collected. Ice can be used to maintain the water in the 59 to 65 degree Fahrenheit range. As soon as the fish arrive at the hatchery, they're tagged for identification and injected with a hormone HCG. HCG induces the final maturation and ovulation of eggs in the striped and white bass. It's also used to enhance sperm production in males. After the brood fish are injected with the hormone, they should be segregated by species and sex to aid in handling and to prevent spawning in the holding tanks. For female striped bass, an egg sample is taken 20 to 28 hours after the injection. Eggs are examined to determine how long before ovulation will occur. Ovulation in striped bass and white bass females is verified by applying slight pressure to the abdomen of the fish. When the eggs flow freely, complete ovulation has occurred. If the eggs are not stripped within an hour after ovulation, they become overripe and can't be fertilized. Spawning is accomplished by manually stripping the eggs and sperm from the right fish into a container. Fertilization takes place by using either a wet or a dry method. With the wet method, the females eggs are stripped into a small amount of water and sperm is added periodically. With the dry method, the striped bass females eggs are stripped into a dry container. Sperm is stirred in and water added to allow fertilization to take place. Female white bass eggs are sticky and must be treated to remove their adhesiveness. These eggs are fertilized using a variation of the dry method. After the water and sperm are added, the fertilized eggs are removed and placed in a tannic acid solution. The most common method of incubating the striped bass and white bass eggs is in a modified McDonnell hatching jar. The jar has a tube within a tube design that permits water to circulate and keeps the eggs in motion. Air is allowed to escape without lifting the eggs out of the jar. One jar can hold 100,000 to 250,000 eggs. When the fry are two to ten days old, they can be stocked and fertilized ponds at the rate of 125,000 to 250,000 fish per acre. Fries should be stocked at night since they may be killed by exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. The larvae should be gradually acclimated to the new water temperature and water quality. Nursery ponds can be filled about two weeks before stocking fry. Most hatcheries use fresh water in their ponds although brackish water up to five parts per thousand is used in some areas. Raising hybrid striped bass successfully depends on an adequate population of zooplankton for food. Nursery ponds should be fertilized with a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers to speed the production of zooplankton. At the end of the 30 to 45 day nursery period fingerlings are harvested by saining. Fish that are to be sold for culture are held a few days in raceways where they can be taught to eat pelleted food. For the first few weeks the fish are fed a 45 to 50 percent protein salmon starter in crumble form. Initially this ration is fed twice daily equaling 15 to 20 percent of the fish's body weight. After six to eight weeks the fish are large enough to take the smallest pelleted food. Normally a 38 percent protein trout grower is fed from then on. During the first year the fish should be graded and sorted to prevent cannibalism. At the end of the first year the advanced fingerlings are harvested by saining. The fish are funneled into live cars which can be moved close to shore. From there the fish can be transferred to containers to be moved to grow out ponds. Fish survival to this point should be around 85 percent and the average weight of the fish should be a quarter to a half pound. The advanced fingerlings are stocked in the grow out ponds at the rate of 3,000 to 4,000 fish per acre. Maintaining good water quality is one of the most important aspects of aquaculture. It's essential to monitor the levels of dissolved oxygen. Low levels of dissolved oxygen can become a major problem for the fish at this stage of growth. To keep oxygen levels up it's important to keep the pond water aerated. Paddle wheels are the most efficient aeration method for large ponds. Usually the aerator is turned off during the day and turned on at night to maintain dissolved oxygen levels above four parts per million. Fish will begin to die if the dissolved oxygen level drops to one to two parts per million and all fish will die if the level remains lower than one part per million for very long. When the fish reach a pound and a half they're ready for market. Under proper management 90% of the fish stocked as advanced fingerlings should survive until harvest. The pond level is lowered and the mature fish are harvested by saining into a live car. They are immediately iced boxed and trucked to markets mainly in the mid-atlantic states and the northeast. Startup costs for a hybrid strike bass operation run about five thousand dollars an acre. It also takes another five thousand dollars an acre to raise the fish to market size. A well-run hybrid strike bass operation can be profitable but like all farming success requires plenty of hard work. The returns can be very good if you're a successful farmer. If you pay attention to detail and raise your fish successfully the returns can be initially in the range of a dollar to a dollar fifty a pound over your production cost. The personality that the person needs is one where he's willing to pay attention to detail. He's not afraid of taking risk and he's not afraid of putting in many long hours. Much like a dairy farmer to me who has to be there morning and evening to take care of his cows the fisherman is going to be the same kind of person. After two years as a hybrid strike bass pioneer Lee Brothers has some advice. They need to study up on whatever they're going to raise as as much as possible and go places visit other farms see what other people are doing they could save them money talk with their different associations that have anything at all to do with it like Sea Grant or the extension department. Just learn as much as possible as you can about it and really study up on water quality. I think we're going to see ponds pop up here and there and people going to be riding down the road saying what's that you know I really do. The catfish industry is growing real quick in North Carolina now and I really believe that the way the river systems and the sounds and all are getting around here now and the commercial fleets are catching fewer fish all the time I think it's a way of the future. After years of research it now appears that hybrid strike bass production can be an alternative enterprise for many southern agricultural producers. As markets expand here and around the world the demand for high quality fish may well fuel a boom in aquaculture.