Coonamessett Farm
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

NOTICE: In 2008 the non-profit Coonamesset Farm Foundation was created.  As a result, the Coonamessett Farm, Inc. Research and Development Division was deactivated. Please visit the foundation at http://www.coonamessettfarmfoundation.org for information on the foundation's current and future research projects.

Introduction to the Firm

           The Research Division conducts multi-disciplinary field projects on land and at sea in a variety of areas. Our plant production work, for example, has included demonstrating new growing technologies and plant propagation, different forms of using plant cultivars, pond management, and new approaches to integrated pest management and weed control. Research in aquaculture has ranged from small-scale, on-farm, fresh water culture systems, to large-scale marine approaches to mariculture, and resource enhancement.

             Our fisheries work has entailed exploratory fishing and conservation engineering/technology development. Services are provided to the MIT Center for Fisheries Engineering Research in conservation engineering. Coonamessett Farm personnel conduct model tests on fishing and aquaculture systems at the Navy's David Taylor Research Center in Maryland for clients around the country. Field work also includes the video taping of fishing gear using a towed underwater gear observation system (TUGOS).

 

Facilities and Resources

          Coonamessett Farm is a combination of a working farm and a research center, set up to function smoothly and efficiently into the 21st century. The farm, with its five greenhouses, field equipment, and water systems, provides the cornerstone to the operation. Our computer system network ties together the globally-based researchers that comprise our organization.

Coonamessett Farm has access to fishing vessels and facilities worldwide. We work closely with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Sea Grant, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory and the Laboratory for Marine Animal Health at the University of Pennsylvania. We have an extensive network of supporting operations, including industrial contractors, environmental consultancies, economists, and equipment suppliers.

         The following are listings of ongoing and completed projects, which have usually required, in addition to the technical expertise, federal and state permits, financing and coordination of many different groups.

Fisheries Projects

Currently Active Projects

Project Title
Client
Total Project Funding

Completed Projects

Project Title

Client

Total Project Funding

Developing An Improved Dredge for Standardized Surveys of the Sea Scallop Resource

Sea Scallop Research TAC Set Aside

$125,800.00

Turtle Excluder Dredge

Sea Scallop Research TAC Set Aside

$424,800.00

Next Generation Scallop Dredge Design

Sea Scallop Research TAC Set Aside

$107,162.00

Bag Tag

Sea Scallop Research TAC Set Aside

$33,591

Uruguay Scallop Fishery Development

BIVAR S. A., Montevideo, Uruguay

Proprietary

Market Study Verification

Sparton of Canada Ltd., Ontario, Canada

Proprietary

Deep Water Fishing Potential Off Southern New England

Michigan Fishing Corporation, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

$395,500 ($225,000 federal grant; $173,000 match)

Oceanic Squid Fishery

K & T Fishing Corporation, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

$168,220 ($134,820 federal grant; $33,400 match)

Sea Scallop Dredge Finfish Excluder

SER Enterprises, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

$141,381($101,048 federal grant, $40,333 match)

Sea Scallop Enhancement and Sustainable Harvesting

Westport Scallop Corporation, New Bedford, Massachusetts

$313,936 ($157,000 federal grant; $156,936 match)

Handbook On Conservation Engineering and Sustainable Fishing

Greenpeace International EC Unit, Belgium

Proprietary

Gear Modifications To Mitigate Bycatch Problems

World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) UK, Surrey, UK

Proprietary

Ecological Impact of Tropical Shrimp Trawling

International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, Madras, India

Proprietary

Development of Snag-Free Fishing Gear

Massachusetts Environmental Trust

$70,000 ($23,000 grant: $47,000 match)

Work Plan for Fish Health Study

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

$20,730

Offshore Squid Jigging

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

$25,000

Land Testing of Gill Net Modifications

National Marine Fisheries Service

$6000

Gill Net Survey

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries

$15,000

Agricultural Projects

Currently Active Projects

Project Title
Client
Total Project Funding
     
     
     

Completed Projects

Project Title
Client
Total Project Funding

Year Round Salad Mix Production

Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, Boston
$21,780 ($10,890 state grant; $10,890 match)

Cultivation of Beach Plums for Commercial Fruit Production

Barnstable County Cooperative Extension, Massachusetts
$31,490 ($15,080 state grant; $16,410 match)

Cultivation of Beach Plums for Commercial Fruit Production II

Barnstable County Cooperative Extension, Massachusetts
$32,800 ($16,800 state grant; $16,000 match)

Greenhouse Polyculture System

Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture, Boston

$40,600 ($18,600 state grant; $22,000 match)

Hydroponic System Comparisons

Massachusetts

$12,000