The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC), one of the United States’ National Sea Grant supported Aquaculture Hubs, was formed to provide relevant, science-based initiatives that support an environmentally responsible, competitive, and sustainable aquaculture industry in the region. This collaboration has been successful in advancing aquaculture in the Great Lakes region through outcomes such as creating industry advisory groups, providing events and webinars to the community, supporting symposia at national and state aquaculture and fisheries meetings, addressing research questions about aquaculture from the consumer and producer perspective, and generating collaborative projects in the region.
Starting in 2019, GLAC has provided a centralized location for regular discussions, research, and events that are developed to meet the needs of industry as guided by state advisory groups. GLAC has also facilitated collaboration within the Great Lakes Sea Grant network for additional aquaculture work, such as Sea Grant’s COVID-19 Rapid Response projects and the Great Lakes Fresh Fish Finder, which led to the creation of more robust industry needs assessments. Moving forward, funding of GLAC will continue to meet the needs of state aquaculture business advisory groups formed under GLAC, as well as be a conductor for coordinating a broader, regionally funded Sea Grant research proposal for aquaculture. These projects have created aquaculture awareness using a regional, diversified, and strategic approach.