Ambulance chaser. Ruthless. Heartless. Greedy. Lawyers tend to be seen as villains, but the daily work of most lawyers is a far cry from what we see on television. Today, on International Be Kind to Lawyers Day, we want to take a moment to recognize the work of one of the most unique programs in the Sea Grant Network – the National Sea Grant Law Center.
 

NOAA is developing a Programmatic Environmental Assessment to analyze the potential impacts on the natural and human environment from aquaculture research and development projects funded by federal financial assistance awards. A public comment period for the draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment is open now through December 18, 2022. 
 

NOAA Sea Grant today announced approximately $14 million in federal funding across four strategic areas for improving U.S. aquaculture. The competitively selected projects will advance early stage propagation strategies for various aquaculture species, marine finfish juvenile production technologies, aquaculture collaboratives and establishment of an aquaculture information exchange.

The National Sea Grant Office announced funding for the Recirculating Aquaculture Salmon Network (RAS-N) in 2019. While that three-year grant is now winding down, the collaborative network it helped build is not going away. Rather, it is entering an exciting new phase with $10 million in funding from a U.S. Department Agriculture program designed to enhance sustainability in agriculture.

Just offshore of New Castle, New Hampshire, Sea Grant researchers are teaming up with local fishermen and farmers to create a new model for sustainable, small-scale finfish aquaculture: The AquaFort.

NOAA Sea Grant today announced $3.5 million in federal funding to support two efforts aiding sustainable growth of U.S. seafood, one focused on improving coordination for marine aquaculture development and another that addresses COVID-19 impacts to seafood resources.  

Several Sea Grant projects purchased farm fresh seafood originally intended for local restaurants and repurposed it to restore aquatic and marine environments. Not only did this creative solution aid in local restoration efforts but it also provided immediate relief to aquaculture producers whose sales were impacted by the pandemic.

New research and innovative collaborative efforts aim to advance domestic aquaculture. Forty two new projects funded by Sea Grant in three programs will work to increase understanding and transfer knowledge to end users for different topics and geographies across the U.S.

In Puget Sound, The Nature Conservancy in Washington wants to learn more about shellfish aquaculture structures and how they impact the marine environment for specific organisms or life stages. They partner with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Washington Sea Grant, as well as the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and shellfish farms, to study which fish and crab species use shellfish aquaculture habitats.