The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative (GLAC), one of the 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.
We will provide updates about our most recent two years of GLAC activities including some of our outcomes and work that is still in progress.
2) We have supported our state aquaculture association annual conferences by assisting with planning, funding speakers, and supporting travel for underrepresented students to attend and speak. We have also supported students and early professionals with travel scholarships to attend both regional and national meetings.
3) We are continuing to develop education materials about aquaculture to deliver to our state agencies, policymakers, and legislators. Members of our collaborative have received separate funding from National Sea Grant to develop aquaculture tours for legislators and we are creating a tool kit for aquaculture producers in the Great Lakes region to help them engage with legislators about aquaculture in their state. Based on feedback from our GLAC state and regional advisory groups, this tool kit is something producers would value as they work with their state associations to raise the profile of aquaculture.
4) We are working with our state regulators to synthesize the existing aquaculture laws, regulations, and policies within the Great Lakes states and evaluate how regulatory agencies interpret and implement these rules with the industry. In addition, some state Sea Grant programs are working to provide simplified guides to aquaculture regulations within their states because one common issue we hear from our producers is that regulations are overly complex, not well organized and can be confusing.
Finally, we have received funding for an additional three years of our hub and we will preview our objectives to advance aquaculture communication and literacy in our region.