Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** in recent years, wild harvests of…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** in recent years, wild harvests of fish and shellfish have declined due to overharvesting as well as climate impacts, leading to thousands of maine fishermen being challenged to find ways to make a livable wage from the sea (johnson ET AL., 2014). Aquaculture is the rearing, and harvesting of aquatic animals and plants - fish, shellfish, algae, and other organisms - in water. By providing coastal communities the means to farm the sea, we can help address this issue. Since 2013, a team of professionals, several with direct aquaculture farming experience, have conducted aquaculture training courses in maine concentrating on crops with proven low costs of entry (principally shellfish and sea vegetables). This aquaculture training course has become known as 'aquaculture in shared waters (AQSW),and has served almost 500 people across maine since its inception. With climate change impacts increasingly felt by maine coastal communities, there is now increasing and urgent demand for aquaculture training. This project aims to address this timely need by reaching new/aspiring aquaculture farmers, early farmers (operating