IMPACT OF NRAC AQUACULTURE FUNDING IN THE U.S. NORTHEAST

Through support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center (NRAC) invested $4.1 million in 32 aquaculture research and extension projects from 2005 to 2014. A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from the University of New Hampshire conducted an evaluation of these projects to assess: their economic impact on the aquaculture industry and overall economies in the Northeast; their effectiveness in solving problems confronting the aquaculture industry; and their effectiveness in securing other research grants.

The evaluation involved three surveys: one with NRAC project leaders; a second with the research, extension, and industry collaborators who were part of the design and implementation of NRAC projects; and the third with representatives from the aquaculture industry throughout the Northeast region. Data from these surveys were used in an estimation of the economic impact of the NRAC-funded projects in the region and in individual states using an IMPLAN input-output model.

Money invested in the 32 NRAC-funded projects benefitted regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP), job growth, and state and local tax revenues (Table 1). A modest investment of just over $4 million resulted in an increase of almost $79 million in GDP of NRAC states; 777 new jobs; over $4 million in state and local tax revenues; over $9.5 million in federal tax revenues; and nearly $33 million in additional external grant funding secured, not including matched funds. People engaged in the aquaculture industry rated these projects as having been very important to critically important to the future of the industry. Depending on the assumptions of the model, the overall economic impact of NRAC funding from 2005-2016 is estimated at 5.3 to 21.9 times the initial investment.