A tour of the Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory (FAML) will be held today, Thursday, Jan. 20, at 2 p.m.

The free tour is offered by the City of Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department as part of its H.E.L.P. series, focusing on health, ecology, lifestyle and preparation.

Space on the tour is limited and advance registration is required. Register at 749-4158 or pamg@cityofportaransas.org. Participants should meet 10 minutes before the tour at the Civic Center to carpool to the facility, located on Port Street.

As part of the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, the FAML is a research facility dedicated to sustainable marine aquaculture and fisheries ecology. Since 1977, FAML scientists, students and staff have promoted environmentally responsible mariculture and practicable marine conservation. Four interconnected areas of research are designed to provide scientific approaches to real world challenges of aquaculture, fisheries and ecology, physiology and neuroendocrinology and ornamental fish husbandry. The facility is on the Corpus Christi shipping channel, with water taken from the Gulf of Mexico, held in holding tanks, filtered and monitored before use with fish. Fish included are redfish, cobia, snapper and snook.

Also offered will be a tour of the Texas AgriLife Research Mariculture Laboratory on Monday, Jan. 24, at 2 p.m.

Space on this tour is limited to 12 and advance registration is also required. Participants should meet 10 minutes before the tour at the Civic Center to carpool to the facility, also located on Port Street.

As part of the Texas A&M University system, the Port Aransas facility develops and commercializes shrimp and sea urchin farming industries for Texas and the United States; develops sea urchin feed and production technology for biomedical and ecotoxicological research; develops starfish feed and production for regeneration and stem cell production; and evaluates fishery processing, biofuel/ biodiesel, and grain crops as nutritional replacements in shrimp feeds.

H.E.L.P. activities are free and open to all ages.