2026-2027 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. We are specifically interested in projects that promise to produce tangible end-products that are of direct use or value to American aquaculture farms by increasing profitability, expanding markets and creating new uses, and improving human health.

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, technical, and social impacts at all industry stages.

 

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 areas of consideration:

 

• Access to capital and/or increasing financial literacy

• Improving product traceability

• Operation siting

• Navigating the regulatory environment and identifying policy solutions

• Education-to-workforce pipeline

• Infrastructure needs and/or shortfalls

• Commercial water access and water rights

• Improving efficiency and optimizing production

• Disease, biosecurity, animal welfare, and/or product safety

• Practical biological, market, and policy solutions to environmental variability  

• Assessment of industry-wide economic impact or needs for the Northeast region

• Public acceptance, consumer confidence, and marketing of aquaculture

• Market development, expansion, and diversification

• Sustainable waste management and environmental stewardship

• Identifying, understanding, and promoting the health benefits of aquaculture products including food safety

 

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

 

NRAC will fund projects for up to three years with total funding up to $300 K. Proposals for periods longer than three years or exceeding $300K will be considered with sufficient justification.