ADVANCING THE GREAT LAKES AQUACULTURE COLLABORATIVE (GLAC)

The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC), one of the National Sea Grant supported Aquaculture Hubs, was formed to provide relevant, science-based initiatives that support an environmentally responsible, competitive, and sustainable aquaculture industry in the region. This collaboration has been successful in advancing aquaculture in the Great Lakes region through outcomes such as creating industry advisory groups, providing events and webinars to the community, supporting symposia at national and state aquaculture and fisheries meetings, addressing research questions about aquaculture from the consumer and producer perspective, and generating collaborative projects in the region.

In September 2022, an additional two years of funding was provided by the National Sea Grant Office to continue GLAC with an additional set of objectives. GLAC’s primary goal remains the same, and through discussions with our industry advisory groups, we developed five new objectives that will further the understanding and sustainable development of aquaculture in the Great Lakes region. The five objectives for the next iteration of GLAC are:

1. Strengthen GLAC’s network leadership by maintaining collaboration among the Great Lakes Sea Grant programs and our state and regional advisory groups. We will use feedback from our advisory groups to pursue funding to develop and coordinate aquaculture research in Great Lakes states.
2. Facilitate collaboration between producers and state aquaculture associations, link these state groups to national and regional aquaculture organizations, and support underrepresented producer, student, and conference speaker involvement at state and national meetings.
3. Develop collaborations among private, state, and tribal organizations including aquaculture producers, commercial fishers, and seafood processors to jointly address food system and supply chain challenges.
4. Deliver to our state agencies, policymakers, and legislators educational materials about aquaculture, the potential for successful aquaculture/aquaponics businesses in both rural and urban underserved areas, and information about how these groups can engage with and support a sustainable aquaculture industry in their state.
5. Synthesize the existing aquaculture laws, regulations, and policies within the Great Lakes states and evaluate how regulatory agencies interpret and implement these rules with the industry.

This presentation will summarize the outcomes from our initial GLAC project and address current progress and plans for achieving our new objectives as we continue to advance GLAC.