The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC) was formed in 2019 to provide relevant, science-based initiatives that support an environmentally responsible, competitive, and sustainable aquaculture industry in the Great Lakes region. With support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Sea Grant, our community of practice will continue through 2027 (8 years) and, if we remain relevant, beyond that. In this presentation we reflect on what has been effective in our community of practice, how it has evolved over the last six years, and what lies ahead.
The foundation of our effectiveness is that we built strong relationships with the aquaculture industry as the backbone of our work. We accomplished this through our industry advisory groups, one representing each Great Lakes state. We have convened these groups at least twice annually to understand the needs of the industry in each state and gain insightful feedback about GLAC’s efforts. The members of these groups have changed over the years, but they keep us on course and do not hesitate to tell us when we are veering off into territory irrelevant to their needs.
GLAC maintains connections to aquaculture research. In the first iteration of the collaborative, research funding was built into the project with researchers as part of our collaborative working on questions relevant to our region. This was effective in training undergraduate and graduate students in aquaculture topics and publishing new research relevant to the Great Lakes region where aquaculture research was lacking. In subsequent iterations of our collaborative, funding did not support research, but we used our connections with our advisory groups and the biennial Sea Grant requests for proposals (RFP) from each state to ensure that aquaculture topics were included in research RFPs. So far this has resulted in three aquaculture research proposals that were funded for the 2024-2026 cycle.
Through listening to the needs of our aquaculture industries, we have turned most recently to aquaculture communication and literacy. We have expanded our audience from producers to adult consumers, K-12 students, fisheries managers, legislators, and other policy makers. Ultimately, the strengths of our collaborative are the relationships and trust we have built among Sea Grant aquaculture extension, researchers, and aquaculture producers across the Great Lakes region.