Paul Szmal: It is 8.38 on FLX Morning here on Finger Lakes News Ready. I would like to welcome in a seafood safety and technology specialist with New York Sea Grant. That's Michael Ceremella. Michael, good morning. How are you this morning?
Michael Ciaramella: Good morning, Paul. I'm well. How are you?
Paul Szmal: Good. Good. And for the folks who may not know, what exactly is New York Sea Grant and how does it work in this application?
Michael Ciaramella: Sure. So New York Sea Grant, we're an extension program. We provide extension resources on various topical areas, all focusing on our coastal regions and coastal resources. As the seafood safety and technology specialist, my focus is more on the post-harvest food safety processing quality end. But we have specialists working in fisheries, aquaculture, coastal erosion, and all different areas, all supporting coastal economies through extension research, which is bringing kind of the science-based information into the hands of those who can apply that.
Paul Szmal: And you are doing that as part of a seafood summit, a freshwater seafood summit that is coming up on March 3rd here in Geneva.
Michael Ciaramella: Yes. So the seafood summit, it's our ninth year doing our seafood summit events, but our third year really extending out across the state to the upstate region and working in the Ithaca, Geneva area. This will be our third event up state. This year, we're trying to shift focus to focus a little bit more on recreational angling and freshwater anglers, especially those that are fishing for food, as well as their support industries like baitfish producers, charter captains, and any aquaculture industry rearing those freshwater fish and supporting that recreational industry.
Paul Szmal: And when is the event taking place March 3rd? Which location?
Michael Ciaramella: Yeah. So the event's going to be March 3rd at Cornell Agrotech in Geneva from 1 to 4 p.m.
Paul Szmal: Okay. And it's funny because when I first started reading the information on this and you think seafood summit, the first thing I'm thinking of is like Red Lobster or a location that serves shrimp and scallops and things of that nature. But as you accurately pointed out, Michael, we've got a lot of people who fish and eat the catch that they get. So that is seafood.
Michael Ciaramella: Yes. Correct. Yeah. So when you focus largely on the more traditional seafood industry, what you would think, we don't have a lot of engagement because it's a very small industry in the upstate region. And that's kind of what's pushed us to make this shift to really target those anglers that are more prominent up in the Great Lakes and the Finger Lakes region.
Paul Szmal: Michael Ceremella from the New York Sea Grain is joining us. We're talking about the upcoming Freshwater Seafood Summit that is set for March 3rd at Cornell Agrotech in Geneva. Michael, what's on the agenda for the Seafood Summit?
Michael Ciaramella: So this year's summit, because of our shift in focus, we're going to start with an update from the Department of Environmental Conservation, which is going to talk about the angling industry upstate and some updates from their department. We've invited the Department of Health to talk about their health advisories and the fish consumption advisories that they put out, looking more at the program of how they're monitoring various contaminants in our freshwater lakes and rivers and streams and coming up with these advisories for consumption. They'll also be bringing along someone from their education team to talk about the various resources that they have to help you understand those potential consumption advisories there.
We also have a research panel lined up where we're bringing various researchers up in the Finger Lakes region to talk about some of the work they're doing that's going into understanding the ecosystems, also the health advisories and the risks associated with it, if any, to talk about what's going on in terms of the research world for recreational anglers. And then we'll kind of have a little bit of opportunity for networking, mingling, as well as an industry spotlight, so having a local charter boat captain come and talk a little bit about their operation.
Paul Szmal: Now, when I hear the word consumption, the words consumption advisory, that kind of perks up my interest a little bit because I wasn't even aware that there are times that consumption of the fish that we have in the Finger Lakes region, the freshwater fish, may not be advisable.
Michael Ciaramella: Yeah, so throughout the state, freshwater bodies can have various contaminants getting in from the land-based sources, industrial resources. And so there's various chemicals that make their way into those water bodies. And depending on concentrations, it can make seafood unsafe, but the health department is regularly monitoring the water bodies. And essentially, when it comes to these advisories and exposure to these contaminants, a lot of the time it's a matter of how much you're actually exposed to before you'll see those negative impacts. And so you can still, you don't necessarily avoid consuming altogether, although some water bodies they may advise not consuming from. But limiting your consumption from certain water bodies will limit your risk associated with the various contaminants that can make their way into those water bodies.
Paul Szmal: Are those, have those been on the increase as of late, or are we kind of par for the course and about average?
Michael Ciaramella: So I don't believe there's been a major increase lately, but it really is very water body specific. And so the Department of Health, who monitors that much more closely, can give a much better insight into what's changing and what's higher versus lower over time.
Paul Szmal: Now this summit is just part of the work that New York Sea Grant does with the seafood industries. On a broader range, how do the two industries, or how does the seafood industry kind of coexist and react with and work with New York Sea Grant?
Michael Ciaramella: So as an extension program, we provide a lot of technical support and resources for the fishery, aquaculture, and seafood businesses across the state, as well as various support industries like culinarians, chefs, aquatic veterinarians, researchers, state and federal agencies, providing science-based information and technical support on a variety of topics related to food safety, quality, production, processing, and marketing. And in addition to providing that technical support, we often serve as kind of these opportunities for building connections, fostering active communication among the various sectors, including the industry as well as academics, working in the field of fisheries, aquaculture, and seafood. And as I said, we have specialists in a variety of areas. So we work in many different ways with our different sectors, all kind of contributing to that seafood space.
Paul Szmal: Is there one particular important piece of information that'll come out of the summit that you think that will stand out amongst the rest, or is this just more of a general information discussion type thing for people that are attending?
Michael Ciaramella: So for this year, again, because we're shifting to really focus on those freshwater anglers, I think this is a great opportunity for those anglers to learn more and interact more directly with the agencies that are regulating the fishery, but also the agencies that are looking into the consumption advisories. So if there are concerns about the fish you're catching and what's going on in those water bodies, this is a great opportunity for anglers to get those answers directly from those who are doing that work and understand those systems. But also interacting with us at New York Sea Grant and other researchers to share the concerns that you have so that they can be addressed through that research and incorporated into future extension programs and resources.
Paul Szmal: And speaking of research, the New York Sea Grant folks just completed what's called the New York Aquaculture Producer Survey. Can you share some of the data that came out of that study?
Michael Ciaramella: Sure. So that's produced or put out by our aquaculture specialist, Barry Udelson. This is going, he's working right now on our second annual aquaculture producer survey, and it's just an opportunity to get a better sense of what's happening in the aquaculture space across the state. This past, last year's survey, he sent out to 99 private, nonprofit, and governmental aquaculture operations across the state, receiving 70 responses. And that survey then goes into a variety of different metrics, looking at the distribution of farms, locations, the age of operations, the number of jobs created by each of those operations, the amount of product produced. And this information was not previously available, at least not in one concentric space. And so this is a comprehensive picture of the state's aquaculture industry for both finfish, shellfish, and seaweeds.
There's quite a lot of operations across the state. Some are producing for human consumption. Majority are looking at stocking local fresh waters, specifically for our recreational angling industry and supporting that vital upstate economy. And our number one top farm freshwater species among the survey respondents was actually trout. And in our marine district, we've got oysters as our number one.
Paul Szmal: Fantastic. Pretty, pretty cool information to share here. Now we mentioned that this summit is geared toward more of the, as you call them, the freshwater anglers, but also people that produce bait fish, as you said, people that are stocking for recreational fishing, as well as charter captains and such. Is there a need to register for this event?
Michael Ciaramella: So we do ask that you register. The event is free to everyone, but the registration will help give us a sense of how many to expect, especially if you plan on snacking. So we will be providing some resources and snacking, and that'll give us an idea of what to bring. But to register, you can visit www.nyseagrant.org backslash seafood summit, or contact me directly at mc2544 at cornell.edu.
Paul Szmal: And there's also a phone number too, if people want to reach out and call and get more information if they missed any of this interview.
Michael Ciaramella: Yep. So you can reach 631-632-8730 if you want to give us a call, and you can ask for me if you have any questions specifically about the seafood summit.
Paul Szmal: All right. Fantastic. Michael, thank you so much for sharing the information, and we look forward to hearing what the results are in a future interview.
Michael Ciaramella: Thank you. And it is 848 on FLX morning.
