NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program and Office of Sustainable Fisheries awarded approximately $900,000 of FY21 federal funds to support projects that will initiate “Food from the Sea” career development programs.
Eleven projects representing regions across the U.S. were selected through the funding opportunity.
The funding will enable Sea Grant and partners to work collaboratively with members of the fishing industry to identify training needs and develop updated and/or new resources and programming to address those needs.
Projects range in size, scope, and design that are as diverse as the localized needs they aim to address. Each selected proposal received meritorious review through a competitive selection process.
The efforts will also allow Sea Grant Programs, industries, and communities to plan for potential upcoming opportunities associated with the Young Fishermen’s Development Act (YFDA). The Young Fishermen’s Development Act (H.R.1240, S.496) establishes a national grant program to support initiatives to educate, train, and mentor young and beginning fishermen.
2021 “Food from the Sea” projects include:
Alaska Sea Grant will engage a wide array of stakeholders and partners in a planning process to help new entrants for Alaska’s commercial seafood harvesting and growing industry sectors start and conduct successful businesses.
California Sea Grant will address the commercial fishing and aquaculture training needs of California and build Sea Grant’s capacity as a leader in training by strengthening the current California Fishing Apprenticeship Program (CFAP), expanding the CFAP to include aquaculture training, and strengthening communication among Sea Grant’s Food from the Sea Careers Network.
A Georgia Sea Grant project will create a planning framework for the development and implementation of commercial fishing and aquaculture career development programming in the south Atlantic region.
A Hawaiʻi Sea Grant project will identify the current aquaculture, fisheries and related career opportunities across Hawaiʻi.
A regional project including Louisiana Sea Grant, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, Texas Sea Grant, and Florida Sea Grant will bring together Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant fisheries and aquaculture personnel and partners to initiate programs, workshops, and services to assist new fishermen, aquaculturists, and seafood sector professionals from the Gulf of Mexico coastal regions.
Maine Sea Grant, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association will identify the challenges and opportunities that can be addressed through training programs to help prepare beginning seafood harvesters and producers in Maine.
MIT Sea Grant and Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance will scope and develop a training program framework that will recruit, train, retain, and support young fishermen in New England’s commercial fishing industry.
In the Pacific Northwest, a project team, composed of Oregon and Washington Sea Grant specialists, will work directly with local experts and stakeholders to examine approaches to support existing and developing workforces.
Rhode Island Sea Grant will work with training leaders in the Rhode Island seafood sector to develop a comprehensive, rigorously evaluated and adapted curriculum for training fishermen to be long-standing and productive contributors to the state’s vital seafood industry.
South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium will develop a Southeast Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Training Center blueprint, with partners in McClellanville, South Carolina, focused on addressing fisheries workforce training needs in the Southeast region of the U.S.
Wisconsin Sea Grant and Michigan Sea Grant will collaborate on a framework for a Great Lakes’ commercial fisheries and fish processing apprenticeship program.
The full descriptions of selected projects is available online at seagrant.noaa.gov.
source: U.S. National Sea Grant College Program