Aquaculture Specialty

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General Information

The undergraduate Aquaculture specialization was established in 1988. The Hilo area has unique potential for aquaculture education. As expected in a semi-tropical climate, warm seawater and freshwater are available. Additionally, cool fresh and salt water (20 degrees celsius) and cold (6 degrees celsius) seawater can be obtained from wells. This diversity of water supplies allows the culture of almost all aquaculture species including tropical fish, trout, salmon, carp, shrimp, various seaweeds, and shellfish throughout the year. Aquaculture students currently have access to a freshwater aquaculture facility at the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory, as well as the 12-acre Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center (PACRC) at Keaukaha. Facilities include a water quality laboratory, a shellfish hatchery, a marine fish hatchery, demonstration fish culture units, and a marine mammal rehabilitation facility. Freshwater and marine aquaponics demonstration units are also present at each facility.

Why Study Aquaculture?

Graduates in Aquaculture can obtain employment immediately after graduation with private firms and various government agencies as aquaculture scientists/technicians. Because of the broad emphasis on both biology and agriculture technology, graduates have many of the skills required to start their own aquaculture enterprises. If students desire a career in research or teaching, this specialty is designed to enable students to be qualified for admittance to graduate programs in aquaculture and fisheries.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will have a thorough understanding of and be able to describe the worldwide extent and importance of aquaculture in the production of food, chemicals, recreation and environmental mitigation.
Students will become familiar with and be able to compare and contrast the major types and components of aquaculture systems, species and factors affecting system sustainability.
Students will be able to identify global cultural, social, economic and historical factors that affect aquaculture development with an emphasis on the Hawai`i and Pan-Pacific region and be able to describe specifically how these factors affect aquaculture.
Students will be able to explain the relationship between aquaculture, society and the natural environments for the major aquaculture areas around the world, including potential impacts (positive and negative), and how environmental and social challenges can be solved. Emphasis will be placed on Hawai`i and the Pan-Pacific region, although regions such as Latin America and SE Asia will also be covered.
Students will have experiential learning opportunities (e.g., hands-on experiences at laboratories, farms, demonstration centers) to acquire skills and abilities including hatchery, growout, harvesting and marketing of aquaculture species to enhance their competitiveness in their future careers.

Requirements for Graduation

To earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture with a specialization in Aquaculture, a student must complete a minimum of 123 semester hours with a cumulative GPA of 2.0. The course work must be in the following areas:

General Education Requirements (46 to 52 hrs)
(see http://hilo.hawaii.edu/academics/gened/ for a listing of qualified courses)

In the Agriscience and Supplemental Requirements, some of the required courses also qualify as General Education Requirements.

Title/Courses	Credits
Basic General Requirements	(18 hrs Total)
English Composition Eng 100 or Eng 100Tor ENG 100H or ESL 100 or ESL 100T	3 hrs
Language Arts	3 hrs
Quantitative Reasoning Two courses	6 hrs
World Cultures Two courses	6 hrs
Area General Requirements	(19 hrs Total)
Humanities: Two courses in different disciplines.	6 hrs
Social Sciences: Two courses in different disciplines.	6 hrs
Natural Sciences: Two courses in different disciplines, iIncluding 1 credit hour of laboratory.	7 hrs
Integrative General Requirements	(9-15 hrs Total)
Writing Intensive Requirement Three courses designated "WI", one of which must be numbered 300 or above. Transfer students, after an official transfer credit evaluation, may be required to take less than 3 courses.	3-9 hrs
Hawai`i Pan-Pacific Requirement	3 hrs
Global and Community Citizenship	3 hrs

Requirements for Major (including GE courses, 123 hrs)

Course	Title	Credits
Agriscience Requirements		(46-47 hrs Total)
Ag 200	Agro-Environmental Science and Communication	3 hrs
Ag 291	Directed Work Experience Program	3 hrs
Ag 375 or AnSc 445 or Biol 466	Introduction to Genetic Analysis or Animal Breeding and Genetics or Genetics	3 hr
Ag 496	Senior Seminar	1 hr
AgBu 320 or AgEc 330	Agribusiness Management or Farm Managment	3 hrs
AgEn 400	Aquaculture Engineering	4 hrs
AnSc 141	Introduction to Animal Science	3 hrs
AnSc 244	Fundamentals of Animal Nutrition	3 hrs
Aqua 262+	Introduction to Aquaculture	3 hrs
Aqua 352 & 352L	Aquaculture of Fishes & Lab	4 hrs
Aqua 353* & 353L*	Invertebrate and Algae Culture & Lab	4 hrs
Aqua 425 & 425L or NRES 425	Water Quality and Aquatic Productivity & Lab or Marine Biogeochemistry	4/3 hrs
Aqua 466	Fisheries Science	3 hrs
Hort 262+	Principles of Horticulture	3 hrs
Hort 263	Hydroponics	3 hrs
Supplemental Requirements		(36-37 hrs TOTAL)
Biol 281 or Mare 265	General Ecology or Marine Ecology and Evolution	3 hrs
Biol 280 or Mare 250 or Math 121*	Biostatistics or Statistical Applications in Marine Science or Introduction to Statistics and Probability	3 hrs
Chem 114-114L Chem 141* or Chem 124-124L Chem 125-125L or Chem 124-124L Chem 141*	Introductory Chemistry & Lab Survey of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry or General Chemistry I & Lab General Chemistry II & Lab or General Chemistry I & Lab Survey of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry	7/8 hrs
Mare 171-171L	Marine Biology-Diversity and Lab	4 hrs
Mare 172*	Marine Biology - Cellular Processes	3 hrs
Mare 201-201L	Oceanography and Lab	4 hrs
Mare 371 & 371L or Mare 372-372L or Mare 484 & 484L	Two of the following courses: Biology of Marine Invertebrates & Lab or Biology of Marine Plants & Lab or Biology of Fishes & Lab	8 hrs
Phys 106-170L	College Physics I & Lab	4 hrs
Electives		(12-14 hrs Total)

*Can be used for Basic General Education OR Area General Education OR Integrative Requirements.

+Can be used for Basic General Education OR Area General Education AND Integrative Requirements.

Effective Fall 2011.