(Rendering for Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center from MSU 2021)
- With the groundbreaking of the Mississippi State facility, Jackson County is now among a select group of counties nationwide that have two flagship research institutions. The other is USM’s Gulf Coast Research Lab.
A groundbreaking was held Monday morning for Mississippi State University’s new Northern Gulf Aquatic Seafood Lab in Jackson County. It is a first-of-its-kind facility that will focus on aquatic food safety, quality assessment, and processing and product development.
The new facility will be the first of three planned structures. It will house a biosafety laboratory for testing pathogens and toxins and an analytical chemistry lab for measuring chemical residues in water and aquatic food products.
“A major limiting factor for aquatic foods safety testing here in Mississippi is that no such facility is available, so our local processors have to send samples as far away as Galveston, Texas,” said James Henderson, professor and center head of MSU’s Coastal Research and Extension Center, in a statement. “This new facility will allow us to expedite that process.”
The project was announced in 2021 as being funded in part through the RESTORE Act, administered through the Mississippi Department of Environment Quality.
Additional phases, as noted in the original project announcement, will include a commercially equipped pilot plant for processing, shelf-life research and product development. An incubator space to work in partnership with the industry will be an adjacent addition for transfer technology developed in the safety of the pilot plant.
Officials from the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation (JCEDF), Jackson County Board of Supervisors, Jackson County Port Authority, and Mississippi State participated in the ceremony located at Sunplex Light Industrial Complex on Highway 57 in Ocean Springs.
With the groundbreaking of the Mississippi State facility, Jackson County is now among a select group of counties nationwide that have two flagship research institutions.
The University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory is also located in Ocean Springs.
Mary Martha Henson, deputy director of the JCEDF, said the Foundation believes in creating relationships.
“Working with a flagship university like Mississippi State will continue to give Jackson County opportunities to diversify our economy and bring in high-skilled, high-paying jobs to support an industry that is an economic driver and an integral part of the Gulf Coast’s fabric,” she said.
The Foundation noted that the statewide seafood industry contributes more than $300 million to the economy. Officials say the Northern Gulf Aquatic Seafood Lab will meet a critical need in the industry by promoting its growth and paving the way for innovation.
In addition to providing a statewide benefit, the Lab will also promote economic development within Mississippi by drawing scientists from other regional R1 (high-level) research universities and offers opportunities to work directly on the Mississippi Coast.
Frank Corder
