Aquaculture America 2024

February 18 - 21, 2024

San Antonio, Texas

NOAA FISHERIES ALASKA AQUACULTURE PROGRAM 2023: COMMUNICATING SCIENCE AND POLICY TO BROAD AUDIENCES

James Currie*, Alicia Bishop

 

NOAA Fisheries

709 W 9th Street

323A

Juneau, AK, 99801

jcurrie11@alaska.edu

 



 Alaska’s aquaculture industry is  currently  a  small-scale, but rapidly growing, economic opportunity for coastal Alaskan communities. One of the keys to sustainably developing aquaculture is strong communication between NOAA ,  state groups,  industry, and the public. During fiscal year 2023, the NOAA F isheries  Alaska Aquaculture Program pursued a variety of initiatives to support the developing aquaculture industry, including several communications projects. These projects  included  a  video documenting the collaborations between researchers and  aquaculture  farmers, the 2023 NOAA Fisheries Alaska Aquaculture Accomplishments Report, a classroom aquaculture demonstration and accompanying curriculum, and stakeholder outreach to support Alaska’s new Aquaculture Opportunity Area initiative. Takeaway lessons from these projects included  the importance of diverse communication methods,  tailoring aquaculture for use in classroom settings, and  the easily forgotten strength of in-person outreach as a supplement to other communications work.