National Aquaculture Extension Conferences (NAECs) are interregional projects funded by the USDA-supported Regional Aquaculture Centers (USDA RACs). Conferences have been held in Little Rock, AR (1992), Annapolis, MD (1997), Tucson AR (2003), Cincinnati OH (2007), Memphis, TN (2011) and Boise, ID (2017). Both NOAA Sea Grant and the USDA RACs provided funding for the 2017 NAEC.
Held every four to six years, NAECs provide the only dedicated national aquaculture Extension event that allows participants to present programs and trainings, tour aquaculture operations, exchange information and network . Conference planning occurs at least tw o years in advance in order to secure a venue in the desired timeframe . Efforts are made to locate conferences in different regions of the country where commercial aquaculture is present and to reflect suggestions made in previous NAEC participant surveys .
An experienced person(s) in aquaculture education, Extension and outreach acts as the local program host and their employer as the lead institution which processes the grant funds. The planning process involves: finding a volunteer host , securing a conference location, venue and dates, developing a project proposal and venue contract, planning the program and tours, and developing the conference survey and summarizing the results. National Aquaculture Extension Steering Committee and National C onference P lanning C ommittee members assist and advise the conference co-chairs in the various aspects of the planning process.
Current efforts are underway to secure a conference location for the 7th NAEC in Portland, Maine during June 2021.