CFAST at Virginia Tech's Mission
CFAST at Virginia Tech exists to generate and share knowledge about the effective production, marketing, physical distribution, and utilization of safe and wholesome fish and shellfish and their products, and to foster continuous profit, growth and development of the commercial, agricultural, and fisheries industries.
History of CFAST at Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech commercial seafood program was initiated in 1969 when two faculty positions were established in the College of Agriculture. One assistant professor was employed in the Department of Agricultural Economics and another in the Department of Food Science and Technology. In 1971, Virginia Tech was awarded its first CFAST project which made possible an Advisory (Extension) program to serve decision makers and users of marine food resources. These grant funds enabled the university to establish the first extension agent position with complete responsibilities in seafood programs. The individual was assigned to the Hampton Unit Extension office so that program services would be available in close proximity to users.
As program activities grew, the university established the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center (VSAREC) in Hampton, Virginia. The 9,600 square foot facility was located on the water adjacent to seafood processing firms and commercial fishing docks and had facilities for pilot processing operations, classrooms, and laboratories. The seafood extension agent was moved from the Hampton AREC to the facility, along with a newly created faculty position in the Department of Food Science and Technology in 1979.
In the 1970s, Virginia Tech's CFAST program was elevated by the National CFAST College Program from project status to coherent area status which included teaching, research, and advisory activities. Virginia Tech was awarded a national CFAST project to publish the CFAST magazine, CFAST 70's, which was renamed CFAST Today in 1980.
As the Virginia Tech program expanded, the Virginia legislature commissioned two JLARC (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission) reviews of the state's marine programs. These reviews included state agencies as well as educational institutions, and the quality of Virginia Tech's programs was recognized. JLARC recommended the establishment of the Virginia Graduate Marine Science Consortium. Virginia Tech became one of the four educational institutions comprising the consortium, and then Virginia Tech president William E. Lavery became the first board chairman of the consortium. Virginia Tech and the other three consortium institutions became the Virginia CFAST College Program in 1982.
The consortium made possible the establishment of marine programs in Virginia Tech's Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Engineering. Many of those programs have since achieved national recognition. As a consequence, the university has received substantial extramural financial support and become a national leader in commercial seafood utilization programs.
The demand for Virginia Tech's services in the area of coastal issues increased and in 1988 the legislature established three additional Marine Extension Advisory agent positions. One agent was assigned to the Lancaster County Extension office in the Northern Neck area; another was placed at the Virginia Seafood AREC in Hampton with program responsibilities in the Middle Peninsula; the third was located in the Northampton Extension Unit with responsibilities on the Eastern Shore; the fourth extension agent was responsible for programs in the Tidewater area. The agent positions have since been changed to specialist positions and are now all located at the Virginia Seafood AREC. Programs at the Hampton Center have been expanded from food science and technology to engineering, aquaculture, business, and retail merchandising.
In 1988, the state aquaculture industry cooperated with the General Assembly to establish a faculty position in the Fisheries and Wildlife Science Department devoted to recirculating aquaculture systems. In 1989, Virginia Tech developed the nation's first commercial scale recirculating facility at an educational institution. The 8,500 square foot unit is located on the Virginia Tech campus and has complete facilities for the propagation and growth of freshwater fish. A greenhouse was added to the aquaculture center in 1995 with financial support from the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Engineering, and Natural Resources. This has resulted in an expansion of aquaculture projects into new research areas. Since the facility's inception, faculty and staff associated with the facility have developed innovative and vigorous teaching, research, and extension programs.
The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine established a faculty position in aquatic medicine and fish health in 1991. Responsibilities of the position include teaching, research, and diagnostic services for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 1992, the College dedicated a 3500 square foot research laboratory committed to fish and shellfish health programs.
In 1994, the Virginia General Assembly passed a funding initiative to establish the Commercial Fish and Shellfish Technologies program at Virginia Tech. This initiative enabled faculty and staff from four Virginia Tech colleges (Agriculture and Life Sciences, Engineering, and Natural Resources, and in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine) to implement research and demonstration projects recommended by an industry committee.
In 2001, a fish nutrition position was added in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. The Southwest Virginia Aquaculture Research and Extension Center located in Saltville, Virginia was also established during the year. The Center is headed with a superintendent position, and both positions are supported by joint agreements between Virginia Tech and an industrial partner.
