Friday April 25, 2014

Today I did my weigh and measure, water quality, and a little bit of research.  I was able to find some interesting things that I though was what I was looking for, but I didn't have time to read through them fully, so I will do that tomorrow.  

This is the third time I have done a weigh and measure.  From the data you can see that the oysters have not grown in terms of length, however I believe that they have increased in weight, by about 0.5 grams on average.  I was glad to see that they had grown more of a belly, however, they also need to get longer if I am planing on selling them to market during the summer season.  I think for the next week I will stop shaking them, so that they will be encouraged to grow lengthwise as well as depth-wise.

This week I have been considering the current location of my oysters (at the Tabor Boy dock).  A stretch of water that has direct sunlight for photosynthesis and a place with good circulation, so they have a lot to eat, are important conditions to look for.  However, there are other considerations that farmers must take into account.

For example, I worry that the little to no increase in length that I have seen may be due to a lack of calcium in the water.  It is important that the oysters have a nice belly, so that they are more aesthetically pleasing and more marketable, but it is also important that they are able to grow to a certain length (3 inches market size) within a reasonable amount of time.  (It’s essentially a better quality or quicker turnover sort of issue.)  Or, since I get such high absorbance readings when the wind comes up, is the silt that is being churned making the oysters silty and/or sandy (this would affect the quality of the oyster and thereby affect it's desirability).  The salinity is also quite high in this area (26-30ppt range).  This will affect the "briney" taste of the oysters.

Honestly there is so much more to consider than I ever though at the beginning of this project.  I have been working slowly on writing my business plan, by reading samples to see what I should be researching and including.  Today I discovered a whole other section that has to do with how the company will be organized (sole proprietor, partnerships, etc.), which I have no idea about.  It sort of boggles my mind to think about it all.

Water Quality 04/28/14

After the nice weather this weekend, the cell density has risen significantly.  Which makes me really happy because the oysters need algae to grow.  Aside from the increased growth in the harbor, there is not much of note in this water quality.

Thursday April 24, 2014

Today I began researching for the next section of my business model, the market analysis.  The first part of the market analysis is a discussion of the industry and its outlook.  This is what SBA.gov said I should include:

Industry Description and Outlook – Describe your industry, including its current size and historic growth rate as well as other trends and characteristics (e.g., life cycle stage, projected growth rate). Next, list the major customer groups within your industry.

It took me a while to find the right sources of information.  I often found myself looking at aquaculture surveys for the Chesapeake and Gulf regions, but not Northeastern.  Finally I resorted back to NOAA, which I have decided is my best source of information.

The aquaculture industry can be viewed from a variety of levels, but the first is world wide.  From a global standpoint aquaculture is very important.  Of all the seafood consumed, approximately 50% of it comes from aquaculture.  The amount of fish that is actually cultured versus wild surprised me.  I hadn't expected it to be that large, but once you consider how much fish is consumed per capita and how much there is in the ocean, the number makes more sense.  The second level is by country.  Asia accounts for about 88% of cultured seafood and the United States for 0.8%.  Although compared to many Asian countries, the American aquaculture industry seems very poor, it has actually been increasing for the past 20 years.

NOAA Statistic

The second level is by region.  In the United States, oysters are grown in the northeast, mid/southeast, gulf, and only occasionally on the west coast.  The table below shows what percentages go to each of the two markets by region.  

Using this information and a few other sources I was able to parse out the information I though I needed and create the industry description and outlook.  I am not entirely convinced that it is right and will be sending it to my grandfather and mother for their opinions.  Despite it being not very good I though I should share it.  It reads as follows:

According to a 2011 NOAA survey, the worldwide aquaculture industry supplies about 50% of the seafood eaten, about 0.8% of which comes from the United States.  Global aquaculture is valued at $120 billion, while United States aquaculture was only valued at $1.1 billion.  The same survey reported that in 2011 the United States imported around $17 billion worth of seafood and only exported about $5.8 billion worth; this is an $11.2 billon deficit.  Because of this deficit, the industry is becoming a popular option.  Aquaculture has been trending up in the United States for the past 20 years; going from being valued at $0.5 billion in the early 80s to $1.1 billion in 2011.

In the Unites States, oysters are acquired via fishing or culture.  Cultured oysters are grown for two markets, the half shell market and the shucked market.  Oysters are cultured in the northeast, mid-atlantic, gulf, and occasionally on the west coast.  In the northeast, 90% of oysters are grown for the half shell market and 20% for the shucked market.

 

Wednesday April 23, 2014

I am not crazy about Wednesdays, because they are too short to accomplish everything you wanted and there isn’t really that much more free time.  You think that you will, since you should end sports around 3, but then there are games and senior project practices, and you end up finishing everything at the same time as any other day.  It’s sort of weird when you think about it.  In any case, I was able to accomplish a couple of things, despite it being a Wednesday.  I took my water sample and read Managerial Accounting during the school day.  Then later in the evening I worked on the business plan.

Although the Executive Plan is the first part of a business plan, it is usually written last.  It essentially summarizes the entire business plan, so that people can glance through the first few pages.  The next part is the Company Description, which is fairly simple.  SBA.gov says the following:

Company Description

This section of your business plan provides a high-level review of the different elements of your business. This is akin to an extended elevator pitch and can help readers and potential investors quickly understand the goal of your business and its unique proposition.

What to Include

• Describe the nature of your business and list the marketplace needs that you are trying to satisfy.
• Explain how your products and services meet these needs.
• List the specific consumers, organizations or businesses that your company serves or will serve.
• Explain the competitive advantages that you believe will make your business a success such as your location, expert personnel, efficient operations, or ability to bring value to your customers.

This sounds really vague, but since all of the examples of company descriptions that I read were short, sweet, and relatively vague, I figured that must be the style.  The following is my attempt at a company description (This is not the first draft of it, I sent the first draft to my mom to ask her opinion.):

Shell Shucked Oyster Farm is a startup farm that will produce quality Atlantic oysters.  The oysters will be cultured using a floating system; which will ensure that they are cared for regularly and efficiently.  The location of the system will also ensure a fresh briny taste.  Once full grown, they will be sold in the “half-shell market” to distributors and restaurants in regular and petite sizes.

(Shell Shucked Oyster Farm is just a name I came up with.  I figured it needed a name and I like the play on words.)

Tuesday April 22, 2014

Over Easter weekend, I was with my grandparents in Boston.  I had a really nice time with them and even went job-hunting for this summer.  While I was up there, I also did a lot of reading in Managerial Accounting.  Despite it being very informative on the financial aspects of business management, it is geared more towards companies that are already up and running.  Meaning that much of the math needs hard numbers, which is something I am lacking.  So I came back this week feeling as though I was off track.  (And stressed because I felt as though I was off track.)

So I did a lot of research today trying to get back on track.  Which at the end of the day, I think I did.  I think I have been spinning my wheels a little bit, which is disheartening and frustrating to say the least.  Spending time on the Internet doing research is difficult, because you invariably get something completely wrong.  I have resorted to searching specific websites, such as NOAA, then following their hyperlinks.

Back to what I was saying before I got distracted.  I went onto SBA.gov to look up business plans and how to write them. (The .gov websites are much more helpful.)  The website told me that the first step in creating a business is the business plan.  It also outlined various parts of business plans and what information they should contain.

These are the general sections that should be in your business plan.  Depending on how you would like to organize it, some things can be rearranged, but not the executive summary or the appendix.  After reading through the articles, I searched for examples of business plans, since I felt that still had questions after I read the descriptions.  It took me a while to find business plans that were similar in nature to mine.  Many of the ones I read initially were for restaurants, probably because that is such a common business to want to enter.  After a while I found a website that creates business plans for you.  It had many different examples, and I found several that were for farming and agriculture that I though would be similar to the one I will be writing.  I think what surprised me most about reading them was how repetitive they were.  I would have expected the business plan to be more straightforward, but each one I read had a mini sales pitch at the beginning of each section, that would often say the exact same thing with different adjectives.  It was interesting how the effect of this could either bore me or convince me that the business sounded like a good idea.

Water Quality 4/25/14

Due to the cloudy days and cold water temperatures (caused by this cold front)  the cell density has gone down significantly.  I am really quite annoyed by the weather right now.  It is supposed to be spring after all.  Aside from the low cell count there isn’t much of note in the water quality.

Water Quality 4/24/14

Today, another cold front hit Marion.  The water temperature dropped once again, which I found really annoying, because I want the algae to flourish, so the oysters will get bigger.  Absorbance and cell count were much higher today.  Especially the absorbance, due in most part to the wind coming from the northwest.