The Northeast Aquaculture Extension Network (NAEN) is a group of extension professionals in the Northeast region of the U.S. This group has previously received funding for extension workgroup projects from the Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center (NRAC) to deliver a variety of regionally important aquaculture extension products and services. Although the 2010 NAEN program was highly successful, generating $377,500 in value for the aquaculture industry (Fairchild et al., 2017), the subsequent lack of NRAC extension projects and the generational turnover of NE aquaculture extension agents has led to lost momentum, comradery, and institutional knowledge. In the past 3+ years, the Covid-19 pandemic has compounded some of these issues. Agents that have been hired during the pandemic have not received the same level of mentoring and training that has occurred in the past due to the nature of the virtual environment. It has been shown that extension professionals have felt high levels of stress during the pandemic and have had trouble with work-life balance (Israel, 2020).
Concurrently with the gap since the last NAEN project, there has been an influx of funding toward aquaculture development nationally, and heightened interest in expanding the aquaculture industry in a sustainable manner. Funding has largely come through the NOAA Sea Grant network, as well as other state and federal sources. Regionally, this funding has enabled an increase in the number of aquaculture extension professionals in the Northeast, though with fewer robust peer-to-peer connections. The compounding factors of the loss of NAEN projects, the pandemic, and increasing aquaculture funding have left a gap in professional development and network building among the extension community. Structured training and mentoring programs play major roles in advancing career development (Cummings et al., 2015) and success in extension roles (Kutilek and Earnest, 2001).
This project has implemented a training and mentorship program for aquaculture extension professionals in the region that reflects and capitalizes on the changed landscape since the previous NAEN project. In doing so, we are revitalizing the NAEN to continue and expand the delivery of regionally important aquaculture value for stakeholders.