VT Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center

VT Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center Advancing applied research and extension in seafood production, sustainability, quality, and safety.

It’s a week of VSAREC superstar sightings! 💡Our K-12 Outreach and Engagement Coordinator, Tiffany, was featured in an ed...
09/03/2026

It’s a week of VSAREC superstar sightings! 💡

Our K-12 Outreach and Engagement Coordinator, Tiffany, was featured in an educational video for New Horizons Governor’s School. The VSAREC offers internship opportunities to Governor’s School students each semester, preparing the next generation for entry into the workforce and higher education. 👷👩‍💼👨‍🔬🎓

Listening to Tiffany speak about the importance of mentorship here: https://youtu.be/ySCkKKVXILU

Virginia Farm Bureau has a familiar face — and fish — on its cover for the summer edition of ‘Cultivate’! 🐟🐠📖Help close ...
08/31/2026

Virginia Farm Bureau has a familiar face — and fish — on its cover for the summer edition of ‘Cultivate’! 🐟🐠📖

Help close out National Catfish Month by picking up a copy and learning all about the invasive blue catfish, a voracious predator in our Chesapeake Bay.

Click here to read: https://issuu.com/virginiafarmbureau/docs/cultivate_summer_2026

Or find copies of ‘Cultivate’ at the Virginia Farm Bureau booth at the Virginia State Fair, starting September 25.

Calling all seafood processors in the 757! 📢🐟🌟The Seafood AREC will be hosting a basic seafood HACCP training from Octob...
08/25/2026

Calling all seafood processors in the 757! 📢🐟🌟

The Seafood AREC will be hosting a basic seafood HACCP training from October 14 to the 16.

Training in Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is mandated for seafood processors by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These courses teach HACCP principles and help processors develop HACCP plans specific to each seafood product they handle or process.

The Virginia Seafood AREC offers a two and a half day Basic Seafood HACCP training designed to educate seafood processors, packers, wholesales, importers, harvesters and warehouses about seafood safety. Participants who complete the course receive a certificate issued by AFDO, that fulfills the FDA requirements for seafood HACCP training.

Register here: https://register.ext.vt.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2022107&selectedProgramAreaId=44377&selectedProgramStreamId=&showInternal=true

Bringing dreams to a reality! 🌟Earlier this week, Hampton University's Economic Development Enterprise cut the ribbon fo...
08/20/2026

Bringing dreams to a reality! 🌟

Earlier this week, Hampton University's Economic Development Enterprise cut the ribbon for its new Digital AI Immersive Experience Academy (D-AIX). D-AIX’s purpose is to help advance artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, innovation, workforce development and industry engagement. This space is open to the public, giving Hampton a space to cultivate the next generation through state of the art technology and expertise.

Director Jonathan van Senten and Associate Director Michael Schwarz attended amongst HU and government leadership in support of Hampton University and its Workforce Development Enterprise.

"It was a privilege to attend the grand opening of Hampton University’s innovative AI research and education space,” said van Senten, “Investments like these create new opportunities for collaboration, discovery, and workforce development.”

D-AIX is right across the street from the AREC in Downtown Hampton, just five minutes away from HU’s main campus.

"It was an honor to participate in Hampton University's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the D-AIX Workforce Development Enterprise. The opportunities for academic and industry collaboration in artificial intelligence are virtually limitless. D-AIX will play an important role in equipping the next generation workforce with the skills and experience needed to drive innovation and productivity across multiple industries,” said Schwarz.

Learn more about D-AIX and HU’s Workforce Development Enterprise here: https://home.hamptonu.edu/wde/

A very successful fishing day! 🎣VSU College of Agriculture and Virginia Sea Grant joined us last week to catch blue catf...
08/17/2026

A very successful fishing day! 🎣

VSU College of Agriculture and Virginia Sea Grant joined us last week to catch blue catfish for the VA State Fair in October. 🎡

The blue catfish is an invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay, eating anything from oysters to blue crabs to clams! In an effort to raise awareness of the blue catfish, we're teaming up with VSU to display the blue catfish at the fair, where we will also have tasty samples throughout the week. 🐟🐠

We're headed to Malaysia!Our bioprocessing team was recently awarded the honor to present their research on robotics and...
08/10/2026

We're headed to Malaysia!

Our bioprocessing team was recently awarded the honor to present their research on robotics and AI at the 2026 International Symposium on Robotics Research, one of the most specialized, prestigious robotics symposiums, which accepts only 40 papers from around the globe.

Ran Yang, a postdoctoral fellow at the AREC, will present the team's findings at the symposium.

You can read the full publication here: https://arxiv.org/html/2509.14138v1

Ever wondered what betta fish spawning looks like? 🫧It all begins with the male building a bubble nest by blowing bubble...
08/07/2026

Ever wondered what betta fish spawning looks like? 🫧

It all begins with the male building a bubble nest by blowing bubbles at the water’s surface — a behavior made possible by his labyrinth organ, which allows him to breathe atmospheric air. He then courts the female by flaring his colorful fins before guiding her beneath the nest. During spawning, the male wraps around the female as she releases her eggs and he fertilizes them. Together, they collect the eggs and place them in the bubble nest, where the male protects them until they hatch into tiny fry that will one day grow into vibrant betta fish. 🌈🐟🐠

Aquaculture is agriculture! 🌾🐟We had a blast last week at the Virginia Ag Expo in Doswell, VA, where we were able to con...
08/03/2026

Aquaculture is agriculture! 🌾🐟

We had a blast last week at the Virginia Ag Expo in Doswell, VA, where we were able to connect with community members, state leadership, and even other agricultural research and extension centers.

07/30/2026

POV: you’re the only seafood-related table at Ag Expo…🌾



Video Description: Tiffany pops out of various locations at event space, with crab sunglasses on.

Happy to our Aquaculture Ambassadors! Leila and Miekiah have been working hard on our second floor alongside our team ...
07/30/2026

Happy to our Aquaculture Ambassadors! Leila and Miekiah have been working hard on our second floor alongside our team to learn all things recirculating aquaculture.

Stay tuned next week to hear more about their research project on betta fish… 🐟🐠🔬🧑‍🔬🫧

Address

15 Rudd Lane
Hampton, VA
23669

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Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

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