Saving Seafood

5 ways aquaculture is boosting coastal economies

March 10, 2026 — On land and in the water, aquaculture offers new opportunities to meet the rising demand for seafood and boost local economies.

From training new workers and navigating regulations to connecting seafood producers with buyers, here are 5 ways Sea Grant’s aquaculture initiatives are helping to bring farm-fresh U.S. seafood to consumers’ plates and ensure a healthy future for our waters.

1. Supporting disaster recovery for Louisiana’s crawfish industry

In 2023, record-setting drought and extreme heat devastated Louisiana’s crawfish industry, a critical aquaculture sector that supports thousands of jobs and significantly contributes to the state’s economy. Louisiana Sea Grant worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to document the harm to crawfish from the excessively dry and hot conditions. The resulting scientific report was instrumental in securing more than $100 million in disaster relief for the state’s crawfish farmers. In addition to providing economic relief to growers, the disaster funds prevented long-term declines in production and preserved the economic vitality of an industry that holds great cultural and economic value in Louisiana.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

Sea Grant funding holds steady in 2026

February 20, 2026 — Sea Grant programs nationwide are entering 2026 with stable federal funding and new investments aimed squarely at fisheries research, aquaculture, and coastal resilience.

In the funding bill passed by Congress and signed by the president in Jan. 2026, the NOAA budget included $80 million for the Sea Grant program and $14 million for Sea Grant aquaculture, which is equivalent to the funding provided in fiscal year 2024.

Alaska Sea Grant, like other state programs, submits four-year omnibus proposals to the National Sea Grant program for core funding. The National Sea Grant program then administers those funds in accordance with proposed budgets.

The return on investment remains significant. Ginny Eckert of Alaska Sea Grant said in an email to National Fisherman, “The $94M provided to Sea Grant in 2024 resulted in $1.59B in economic impact.”

Fisheries and aquaculture are one of the four focus areas of Sea Grant in Alaska and nationally. Other focus areas, such as workforce development, resilient communities and economies, and healthy coastal ecosystems, also directly benefit the seafood industry.

The level funding follows passage of a full year “minibus” bill that supports NOAA and EPA programs tied to ocean and coastal management. According to Surfrider, the final package rejected a proposed 55 percent cut to the EPA and the elimination of coastal management grant programs. It secured level funding for NOAA Coastal Zone Management, Coastal Management Grants, the Sea Grant College Program, and National Marine Sanctuaries, while removing provisions that would have mandated new offshore drilling and weakened the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Sea Grant strengthens America’s working waterfronts

October 3, 2025 — The U.S. maritime economy is growing faster than the economy as a whole, supporting over 2.6 million jobs and contributing $511 billion to the nation’s GDP.

From lobster docks in Maine to oyster farms in Florida, kelp farms and commercial fisheries on the West Coast to maritime training in Alaska, charter fishing in the Gulf, and inland shipping in the Great Lakes, America’s coastal and freshwater industries are fueling economic growth, feeding families, and sustaining communities.

At the heart of that growth is Sea Grant, a trusted federal program linking science, communities, and industry across every coastal and Great Lakes state. According to the most recent federal data, the marine economy grew by 5.9 percent in GDP, outpacing national GDP growth, and Sea Grant plays a critical role in sustaining and accelerating that momentum.

Modeled after the Land Grant college system that helped transform American agriculture, the Sea Grant college program has spent more than 50 years doing the same for the nation’s marine and freshwater economies, combining applied research, hands-on education, and direct investments in communities and businesses to promote sustainable growth.

That model works. It works for the charter boat captain who needs up-to-date science on fish stocks, reef health, and ocean conditions. It works for the shellfish farmer navigating complex permitting processes, building a skilled workforce, and developing business plans to stay competitive. It works for the lobsterman who relies on data about juvenile lobsters entering the fishery to make informed decisions about their gear, boat, and future, because without that data, they’d be navigating blind. It works for the seafood processor hiring the next generation of workers, and for the harbor manager planning infrastructure upgrades to withstand future storms. It works for the grocery shopper a thousand miles from the coast looking for fresh, healthy seafood, and for the inland communities whose economies depend on waterborne trade and shipping. It works for families, for small businesses, for regional economies, and ultimately, for the nation.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

LSU Sea Grant’s Director Julie Lively Balances Organization’s Mission With Seafood Community’s Hurricane Recovery

April 18, 2022 — Sea Grant’s mission is to enhance the practical use and conservation of coastal and marine resources in order to create a sustainable economy and environment.  With four hurricanes in two years, Julie Lively, the executive director of Louisiana Sea Grant at LSU, has had to balance the organizational mission with that of assisting the state’s seafood community’s recovery from the storms.

“I have been on a lot of calls with the EDA, FEMA, NOAA and other government organizations,” said the director who is also sits as a member of the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition (LFCRC).  “On one of them I was asked to provide a rough list of bulleted items caused by the storms.  Marine debris in the water topped my list. Several members on the call were like, ‘who did a bad job at cleaning up?’ We just all stopped on the call and went “like what”, and they asked again. ‘Who didn’t do a very good job when they cleaned it up?”

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Foundation

 

NOAA awards $2M in climate-related lobster research 

November 9, 2021 — Several  Maine scientists have received federal funding to learn how the American lobster is affected by environmental change in the Gulf of Maine and across New England.   

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  Sea Grant  announced $2 million in grant s late last mont h for six projects as part of the American Lobster Initiative. The initiative looks to bridge critical gaps in knowledge for Maine’s iconic species.  

“Given the importance of lobster to the economy and culture of Maine, I’m thrilled to have these new projects join the growing initiative,” said Amalia Harrington, a marine extension team member with Maine Sea Grant at the University of Maine. “The more we learn now, the better prepared our lobster industry will be in the future.”  

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

 

Congress passes Young Fishermen’s Development Act for the new generation

December 22, 2020 — The passage by Congress this month of the Young Fishermen’s Development Act creates a $2 million annual grant fund to train and foster the next generation of U.S. commercial fishermen.

Twin bills H.R 1240 and S. 496 passed with bipartisan support, five years after the concept was first proposed by the Fishing Communities Coalition, a national advocacy group with membership of more than 1,000 independent fishermen and seafood-related business owners in small-boat fishing communities from Maine to Alaska.

Authorized for the next six years, the program to be administered through Sea Grant will allow “fishing associations, universities, tribal organizations, and others to compete for grant funding to train young commercial fishermen in sustainable fishing and business practices,” according to the coalition. “It solidifies and unites current piecemeal training efforts into a cohesive, national initiative to advance this critical mission.”

The program is modeled on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s successful Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, helping entry-level agriculture. Advocates say it’s a critical response to demographic shifts in some fisheries and fishing communities. In some regions like New England the average age of fishermen has shifted upward by 10 years compared to earlier generations – a “greying of the fleet” that portends problems for the industry’s long-term prospects.

The annual $2 million budget will be fully paid for from fines paid by fishermen who violate fishery regulations. Grants will run up to three years, be capped at $200,000 annually and cannot be used to purchase fishing permits, quota, or other harvesting rights.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Senators seek to preserve Sea Grant program from Trump budget cuts

May 2, 2019 — A group of 25 U.S. Senators signed a letter last week to the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee urging them to save a federal program they claim has helped the domestic seafood trade and coastal communities.

The letter comes about a month after the Trump Administration released its proposed budget for the 2020 fiscal year. In that spending plan, the administration called for the elimination of the National Sea Grant program from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) budget. The Sea Grant program was one of three NOAA initiatives targeted for elimination.

The others are the Coastal Zone Management Grants and Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.

“These eliminations would allow NOAA to better target remaining resources to core missions and services,” the administration stated in its budget proposal.

However, the Senators contend the program, which consists of a network of programs based at 33 universities, helps states better manage and utilize their coastal resources.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NORTH CAROLINA: New experiment raises possibility of fresh N.C. soft-shell crabs year-round

March 11, 2019 — An experiment to farm soft-shell crabs in North Carolina ponds could augment declining wild stocks and lead to having plenty of the delicacy fresh almost year round.

Scientists from North Carolina and Mississippi will work together in a three-year venture to raise blue crabs and harvest them for the lucrative soft-shell market.

Fresh soft crabs flood the market typically in May and June, at the height of molting season.

A $339,239 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will fund the project, managed by Sea Grant programs in both states. The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab will lead the effort and lend expertise.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

How Many Red Snapper Are in the Gulf of Mexico?

November 22, 2017 — Several stakeholder groups have expressed concerns that there are more red snapper in the Gulf than currently accounted for in the stock assessment.

In 2016, Congress directed the National Sea Grant College Program and NOAA Fisheries to fund independent red snapper data collections, surveys and assessments, including the use of tagging and advanced sampling technologies. Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries worked collaboratively to transfer federal funds to Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant offsite link to administer the competitive research grant process and manage this independent abundance estimate.

To conduct the independent study, a research team of 21 scientists from 12 institutions of higher learning, a state agency and a federal agency was selected by an expert review panel convened by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. The team secured $9.5 million in federal funds for the project through a competitive research grant process, and together with matching funds from the universities, the project will total $12 million.

Read the full story at Marine Technology News

 

New England senators say Congress should save Sea Grant program

September 18, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s U.S. senators are signing on to a request to keep the National Sea Grant College Program funded at least at its current level.

President Donald Trump has proposed to eliminate the program, which funds science that’s beneficial to commercial fisheries, conservation and coastal businesses. It has existed for about a half century.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NH1