2025-2026 Priority Statement

Targeted Project Area (TPA)

The following statement, as prepared by the NRAC Technical and Industry Advisory Council and approved by the Board of Directors, is intended to address challenges and opportunities identified by industry members for research, demonstration, outreach, and/or education. Pre-proposals that address these areas will receive equal consideration.  Areas described below are in no particular order. Aquaculture commodities chosen for study should have proven or have viable economic potential for commercial development in the Northeast region. Collaborative partnership(s) with appropriate industry sector(s), firm(s), fishing groups, or tribal groups is highly encouraged. Projects that promise to produce tangible end-products that are of direct use or value to aquaculture businesses or address key bottlenecks to aquaculture operations or marketing are preferred.

NRAC encourages a diversity of projects and multi-disciplined investigators to advance aquaculture (including aquaponics) in the Northeast as it relates to species, production systems, applications, and markets. NRAC supports projects that demonstrate measurable impacts in either marine or freshwater environments, at sea or on land, and in urban centers or rural settings. Aquaculture organisms are always aquatic and include finfish, shellfish, invertebrates, seaweed, other aquatic plants, and microalgae.

Goal: To improve the opportunities for growth and sustainability of the aquaculture industry by focusing on areas of economic, environmental, and social impacts at all industry stages (i.e., product life-cycle curve):

 

• New/young businesses: issues affecting barriers to entry, assisting market or industry segment entrants

• Established businesses: issues affecting scalability and growth as demands increase

• Mature businesses: issues affecting sustainability and maintenance such as the development of new market opportunities or diversification

 

Statement of Opportunity: Aquaculture in the northeast region includes a diversity of species, systems, and industries. NRAC funds projects that focus on all aspects of aquaculture and emphasize outcomes leading to development and sustainable growth of the industry. Members of the Industry Advisory Committee have identified the following challenges as major constraints:

 

• Access to capital and/or increasing financial literacy

• Operation siting

• Navigating the regulatory environment

• Education-to-workforce pipeline

• Infrastructure needs and/or shortfalls

• Commercial water access and water rights

• Improving efficiency and optimizing production

• Disease, biosecurity, and/or product safety

• Practical responses to environmental interactions and/or change and identifying potential biological, market, and policy solutions

• Industry-wide strategic planning

• Market/public acceptance of aquaculture

• Market development, expansion, and diversification

• Sustainable waste management and environmental stewardship

 

NRAC welcomes proposals that address these identified issues, as well as other issues that advance aquaculture in the Northeast.