Aquaculture has sustained many advancements of the past decade to become more environmentally sustainable, with focus on coastal communities and economic benefit as well. However, public perception and understanding of these developments is not always widely distributed to the general public and therefore not well understood. The aquaculture industry and others must engage in science communication to disseminate information on current and future aquaculture research and development, and community benefits. A content library of podcasts episodes about Aquaculture in Maine will be used as a strategy to disseminate aquaculture topics to the general public. This podcast will be community topic driven and podcast reach will be assessed using social media analytics and analytics provided through Captivate, and survey evaluations. Statistical tests run in R will be conducted quarterly to measure progres once the podcast has been out for 6 months.
Currently there is no podcast about the aquaculture sector as a whole in Maine. Other industries including the photovoltaic industry and healthcare industry have used podcasts as a form of science communication. Additionally, social scientists have demonstrated this form of media is effective in raising awareness and creating social impact, and even potentially changing perceptions on certain topics.
Episode topics are inspired by a study done on diverse perspectives on aquaculture in development in Maine, along with the author’s previous research experience to understand perceptions of fin fish aquaculture to guide the focus and think about cross sector and multidisciplinary interactions, as well as the importance of community engagement and social license to operate.
The podcast is on Spotify, Google, and Apple. Episodes consist of various structures including interviews, story telling, and conversations between different stakeholder/industry members. Topics will vary and will include (but not limited to); finfish, shellfish, seaweed, feed, husbandry, disease, indigenous knowledge, regulatory hurdles, history in Maine, and the economy.