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e Center of Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore… Who Knew? by Tim Campbell
Imagine a day when sh waste is turned into gas to power machinery, and the sh we put on our tables to eat tastes better than ever. e University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) is making great strides in bio-fuel development as well as in advancing the next generation of seafood production.
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On October 8, 2009, while attending the Coastal Conservation Association Baltimore Chapter’s annual banquet, a group of us had the opportunity to go on a special guided tour of COMB located at 701 East Pratt Street in Baltimore City. I’ve lived in the Baltimore area most of my life and didn’t know the center existed. When I
asked some of my friends, none of them knew the place was there either. During the tour, I asked our guide, John Stubble eld, laboratory manager and research scientist with a specialty in induced spawning, if I could interview him for an article sometime, and he graciously accepted. e center opened in 1995. Among the many unique studies COMB is known for are re-circulating aquaculture and bio ltration, which is what Stubble eld and I focused on during my second guided tour. We talked about aquaculture research and development, re-circulating and ltering water, and transforming sh waste into fuel-grade methane gas, which when perfected, can run some of the center’s pumps and other machinery. If the center’s energy use can be o set by just 10 percent using methane gas, then total self-sustainability may not be too far away. Many researchers and scientists in the eld of biotechnology consider this development very exciting and a real breakthrough in bio-fuel technology.
About 160 people work in the building as part of COMB. Most of the sta are researchers and scientists, including a large
number of microbiologists working on such things as sh nutrition, reproduction, developmental biology, disease treatment and immunology, marine microbial ecology, marine microbiology technology, and molecular biology.
Dr. Yonathan Zohar, the center’s director, specializes in sh endocrinology and aquaculture. On a COMB website video, he says that the oceans have reached “maximum sustainable yield” and that the “global supply of seafood has been under greater pressure due to higher demand, over- shing and environmental factors.” By the year 2020, aquaculture will need to produce one out of two sh to provide the world’s population with seafood, according to some estimates. e center is doing problem-solving research and is taking steps within the eld of aquaculture to study how to better use the ocean’s resources. COMB studies recirculating aquaculture as a means of producing eggs to grow high-value food sh in captivity while re-using ltered tap water in a completely self-contained setting that has little or no impact on the environment. e ultimate goal of this type of aquaculture is to reduce pressure on natural sh stocks and to provide a nutritious food source for the world’s growing population in a manner that is environmentally friendly. At COMB there are large sh tanks connected to other big tanks that recycle water and lter sh waste that turns ammonia, which is toxic, into fuel-grade methane. In other words, sh waste turned to sludge creates methane gas, which helps make electricity. Some energy companies are very interested in the development of bio-fuel production. COMB wants to eventually become part of a consortium of other research institutes, federal and state agencies, and private industry groups to study bio-fuel production. e notion of transforming sh waste into fuelgrade methane gas for energy production is still in the early stages, and much more work needs to be done; but the process works, and the potential for environmentally friendly energy production is on the horizon. e center is home to cobia, gilt-head sea bream, and striped bass blissfully swimming around in pristine ltered re-circulating water tanks. ere are tanks with brood stocks as well as younger sh swimming in
At COMB, sh waste is turned into sludge that creates methane gas, which helps make electricity for the facility.
experimental grow-out trial tanks modeled to simulate the commercial sh farming process. e number of sh in each tank varies; but in general, for each half pound of sh at least one gallon of water is needed to keep the sh healthy and to grow them as fast as or better than the commercial aquaculture industry.
One of the keys to successful aquaculture production is getting the sh to spawn in captivity. Stubble eld explained that when a sh is taken from the wild and put in captivity, its environment is disrupted, and it typically won’t spawn. Dr. Zohar has developed a process for injecting sh with a type of implant, which works similarly to time-release capsules that gradually supply the sh with missing hormones to induce spawning.
COMB is not a commercial facility, but rather a research facility. However, as part of the aquaculture research, COMB sometimes sells batches of sh to local restaurants that in turn market the sh on their menus as organically grown. In blind taste tests, some chefs said the COMB sh tasted better than sh from the sea. at’s because the sh are fed a nutritious diet and are grown in tanks of pure water free of toxins and other contaminants.
In another ambitious study, COMB is pioneering a micro-bacterial process for turning ordinary city water into simulated seawater, constantly ltering the water and re-using it. e same water is used over and over and is totally free of toxins and other contaminants. COMB works collaboratively with the National Aquarium and others with regard to re-circulating tank research and bio-fuel production. ese are just a few of the breakthroughs in technology being developed by the dedicated researchers and scientists at COMB. e impact of their work will one day surely bene t our sea life and our future way of life. Who knew? For more information about COMB, check out their website at umbi.umd.edu/comb/home.php.
About the Author: Tim Campbell is an avid angler, sits on the board of directors of the Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland, and is a member of the Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writer’s Association.
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