There is a growing interest within the U.S. and globally in aquaculture of macroalgae (“seaweeds”) for use in a variety of food, bioremediation, and industrial use sectors. Currently macroalgae comprises over 50% of global mariculture production, though the vast majority of culture operations are concentrated in Asia. Within the U.S. there is an increasing interest in the expansion of seaweed aquaculture, particularly within coastal fishing communities, yet the main focus for such expansion has been in northern climates with temperate macroalgae species. There is incredible untapped potential for tropical seaweed species native to the southeast U.S. and Caribbean regions to gain a stronger foothold in the marketplace, particularly markets for direct human consumption and value-added products. However, some of the most common impediments to such growth in the southeast U.S. and Caribbean regions come from a lack of tropical U.S. fishing community exposure to sustainable production, processing, and value-added strategies for tropical seaweed species in the region, particularly in terms of how tropical seaweed species can be readily incorporated into existing finfish culture operations through utilization of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) techniques and systems design. Aspects of ongoing research and development activities aimed at resolving these issues will be presented, and opportunities for working waterfront communities to implement IMTA culture operations will be discussed. This work has been supported by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).