Maine Shellfish Developers LLC received a $256,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program. The award will support the development of a cost-effective means of culturing large volumes of microalgae for land-based oyster farming through April 2023. The grantee aims to advance microalgae production at scale using spent yeast from breweries as a substrate. The microalgae will be used as feed for oysters farmed on land...
Shellfish Solutions Inc., doing business as Oystertracker, received a $500,000 Project Grant award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 11.021) to develop the Tide to Table Traceability and Marketing System. The two-year project will create a traceability and marketing platform to track shellfish from harvest locations through processing and distribution to support sustainable aquaculture and seafood...
The Blue DOT Sea Farms, SPC was awarded a $100,000 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) to develop paradigm shift technology for scalable, high-density, high-yield commercial multi-species mariculture. The SBIR/STTR programs support scientific excellence and technological innovation through federal...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $650,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant to Pacific Hybreed Inc., a for-profit aquaculture research company located in Bainbridge Island, Washington. The primary goal of this 2-year project is to develop non-GMO, hybrid Pacific oysters optimized for different growing conditions through crossbreeding and rigorous on-farm trials. The project aims to evaluate the performance...
The Community Shellfish Company, LLC received a $568,136 Project Grant award from the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service under the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. The grant will support the launch of Merroir.me, a new digital brand experience and direct-to-consumer marketing campaign to promote Maine seafood products in Connecticut and Rhode Island through 2024. Specifically, Community Shellfish Company will produce original videos, a website and...
This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (CFDA 10.311) provides $749,891 to the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (MAIC), a non-profit organization, to expand their "Aquaculture in Shared Waters" training program in Maine. The program aims to train new, aspiring, and early-stage aquaculture farmers in the state, with a focus on low-cost aquaculture...
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded a $2,000,000 Congressional Grants Program (CFDA 59.059) Project Grant to the University of Maine System (UMS) on October 1, 2024. The grant supports small business development and entrepreneurship initiatives, with a focus on underserved communities. Under this award, UMS will partner with Vertical Bay, a Maine-based sea scallop aquaculture company, to develop novel production models and conduct life cycle assessments to analyze the...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $175,000 Project Grant under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to Cold Current Kelp LLC (CCK), a woman-owned limited liability company located in York, Maine. This 8-month project will determine the feasibility of using a novel green extraction method to obtain bioactive compounds from domestically grown sugar kelp. The project aims to identify, characterize, and quantify...
This Project Grant award from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) provides $181,500 to Boat Yard LLC to design a novel electric workboat hull to meet the specific requirements of the U.S. aquaculture industry. The project aims to develop a prototype electric workboat hull featuring enhanced durability, battery life,...
The Project Grant award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Fisheries Development and Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program (CFDA 11.427) aims to develop mutually-beneficial strategies for shellfish farmers and wild harvesters in Maine. The $572,134 award to Manomet, Inc., a non-profit organization, will fund the development of production methods and market opportunities for quahogs. This includes determining the...