UAPB fisheries unit gets new digs, chief

Diagnostic lab to move to Lonoke

PINE BLUFF -- Big changes are sweeping through the aquaculture and fisheries program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, including the retirement of the director and a key diagnostic lab moving off campus.

The University of Arkansas board of trustees voted recently to pay Carole Engle a $51,536 stipend as part of an early retirement agreement, according to documents released by the UA System.

Engle, whose 2015 salary was listed as $109,651, had said earlier this year that she planned to resign over disagreements with UAPB officials about the future of the aquaculture and fisheries program. Professor Rebecca Lochmann will serve as interim director for the center and interim chairman of the department after Engle's retirement June 30.

Lochmann has been out of the country and said she will discuss her new role as director in the coming weeks, "once I get settled in."

Additionally, James O. Garner, dean of UAPB's School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences, is retiring after a UA board of trustees agreement to pay him a $29,484 stipend. His 2015 salary was listed as $117,588. Attempts to reach Garner last week were unsuccessful.

In an emailed statement about her retirement, Engle said: "It has been an honor and a privilege to work with the fish farming industry in Arkansas. We have learned much over the years from all of you and appreciate, more than you may realize, all the support and assistance that you all have provided for so many years."

Engle has said she will not discuss the situation further.

In a news release, UAPB Chancellor Laurence Alexander thanked Engle "for her many contributions to UAPB, particularly with the Aquaculture/Fisheries Center and the Department," adding that he wished her "the very best in the future."

Alexander did not respond to messages last week seeking information about Engle's retirement and the aquaculture and fisheries program.

Engle, along with UAPB's National Advisory Committee on Aquaculture, have disagreed in recent years with Alexander over the chancellor's campuswide mandate that more new research be conducted in all departments.

Engle has said in previous interviews that she thought new research proposed by Alexander would have taken valuable lab space and possibly hurt the disease-testing that is critical to fish farmers who want to sell their stock. Engle said earlier this year that she planned to leave UAPB over the issue and that she was unhappy with the recent administrative structural changes that had been implemented.

The chancellor has maintained in previous interviews that such new research would not be a hindrance and would improve the status of UAPB as a research institution.

The advisory committee -- made up of fish farmers, who are known as stakeholders -- operates independently of the university and holds no authoritative power.

One of the aquaculture and fisheries program's requirements for receiving federal dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, however, is seeking input from and working with such stakeholders.

Farmers and wildlife experts ship samples to the UAPB center's fish pathology unit to identify diseases and halt their spread, and industry insiders have said the school's program is among the best. The program is the only one at UAPB to offer a doctorate.

Now, the diagnostic lab will move this summer from the UAPB campus to a facility in Lonoke but will still be controlled by the university, UA System President Donald Bobbitt said. The past disagreements played a role in the decision to move the facility but weren't the primary driver, he added.

Bobbitt said moving the lab should be beneficial for all involved.

"For one, it will be closer to many producers who use the facility for testing," Bobbitt said. "And for another, the lab won't be affected by the hustle and bustle of a campus environment. We understand the concern that producers have, because their jobs are their livelihood. They want the lab to be able to perform and service as it's intended to do, so they can continue to conduct their business."

State Rep. Camille Bennett, D-Lonoke, had introduced legislation earlier this year to move the diagnostic lab to Lonoke but withdrew it after talks began between UA officials and UAPB about the issue.

Lonoke County fish farmer Mike Freeze, who is vice chairman of the advisory committee, said he and other farmers are in agreement with Bobbitt about the move.

"We just want to move forward, and this is something we feel like will benefit us," Freeze said. "This is something many of us have wanted for a long time."

State Desk on 06/08/2015

Upcoming Events