Matt,
Thanks for posting the national strategy. Let's look closer at this over the next week.
Is this strategy still relevant?
Where do we fit into it?
Should we fit into it?
Think about how your research achieves these goals.
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After my first reading of the National Strategy, I would say yes its still relevant. However, the data gaps identified in 1997 are still for the most part, unknown in 2008. With 300 species, its difficult to determine where to start.
ReplyDeleteMy criticism of the Strategy is that the Committee missed a prime opportunity to prioritize the problems/goals - to provide a sense of logical direction. What they did was throw the data gaps into the air and everyone grabbed little bits and pieces to work on. With this process it'll take years before a coherent and somewhat complete analysis of even one species will occur.
I think the Mussel lab has moved science forward in regard to propagation research, but somewhere the lab has gotten off-track and has become more of a production facility. I realize funding directs the activities, but the lab needs to keep its overall mission and goal in mind. The lab's mission - if it has one written - should be revisited.
With the Mussel lab and VT located in the middle of prime mussel habitat, I think we should continue with efforts to determine basic physiology, reproductive and habitat requirements, along with increased propagation research - not just production. The true research would come from designing a system to hold mussels/fish in as natural a setting as possible so that mortality is lowered (< 10%). The next true research would then be to use animals in that system for: host identification, diet studies, artificial spawning, juvenile culture, water quality thresholds, etc... Once each of those study's designs have been perfected, repetition of each becomes cookie-cutter.
I think it would have been wise of the Strategy's Committee to determine the strengths of all the groups involved and provided direction for them. Some would be strictly research, others for production, monitoring, mapping and so forth.
My first thoughts. I'd like to hear others.