In response to the COVID-10 pandemic, New York Sea Grant initiated two statewide task force efforts to directly engage industry and agencies impacted by the social and economic challenges imposed by the pandemic. New York Sea Grant coordinated monthly calls to create a space for industry and agency challenges to be shared and facilitated discussions around potential opportunities for supporting the industry and addressing these challenges.
With the major challenges identified revolving around changing markets and loss of sales, the group decided that additional guidance and resources around how to access various markets and the regulatory requirements of doing so would be beneficial. With the support of agency and industry partners, NY Sea Grant drafted regulatory guides and topical resources to clarify how seafood and seaweed business could adapt and access different markets.
To further support changing business models for New York producers, NY Sea Grant allocated funds to support free seafood safety trainings for producers and processors. This allowed new and existing business to gain the necessary training to process and market seafood products in the state.
The task force also identified education and consumer awareness as an ongoing hurdle. To help address this NY Sea Grant partnered with colleagues at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County to develop an incentives program to increase awareness of, and demand for, New York farmed and fished seafood. The sticker depicted to the right was one element of the program to promote NY farmed and fished. Based on post program evaluations, more than 60% of participating retailers indicated up to a 20% increase in the sale of NY farmed or fished seafood when offering the purchase incentives provided by New York Sea Grant.
These efforts to support New York’s seafood and emerging seaweed industries have led to the development of various regulatory and processing guides and nutrition and marketing resources; free seafood safety training opportunities; and increased sales of NY products. New York Sea Grant plans to continue facilitating task force efforts to afford the industry an opportunity to regularly interact with one another and regulators to address emerging needs and share opportunities.