Sea Grant Aquaculture Leadership Academy 2.0: Great Lakes to the Gulf of America

Objectives

Objective 1 - Curriculum development  
To develop an innovative curriculum that includes instructional activities and hands-on field experiences to not only increase knowledge of participants with regard to aquaculture topics but also expose participants to the real-world challenges and constraints producers face on farms and in their regions. We will develop and engage an external advisory committee to review and vet the curriculum.     

Objective 2 - Program delivery and evaluation 
To deliver professional development opportunities and other programming related to national, Great Lakes and Gulf region aquaculture industries to increase knowledge of 60 new and mid-career Sea Grant, Land Grant and federal aquaculture extension staff through in-person field and virtual training sessions. The team will partner with local professional development programs in the Great Lakes and Gulf regions to increase our training capacity. It will formally evaluate programming to quantify increases in knowledge, potential for future collaborations and long-term program benefits.    

Objective 3 - Collaboration and networking  
To strengthen capacity and partnerships within the Sea Grant Aquaculture Network and between the Sea Grant network and other aquaculture extension professionals by providing networking and relationship building opportunities, space for participants to learn from one another and structured time to brainstorm future collaborations.

Methodology

The team will form an advisory committee and consult with the Sea Grant Aquaculture Leadership Academy 1.0 (ALA 1.0) leadership team to review our draft curriculum plan, programming, and proposed site visits. This committee and ALA 1.0 consultants will work directly with Minnesota Sea Grant (MNSG) and Texas Sea Grant (TXSG) staff to set instruction priorities, identify learning objectives and ensure important topics of interest are identified and incorporated into formal programming. The Minnesota and Great Lakes segments of ALA 2.0 will occur in the late spring/early summer of 2026 and 2027, and Texas and Gulf segments will occur in fall of 2026 and 2027. These time frames correspond to periods when fish and shellfish spawning occurs and farm activity is usually high in each location. 

Each day of formal programming will include a combination of tours, hands-on activities, panels, discussion and presentations about topics important in the aquaculture industry. While in Minnesota, participants will learn about land-based finfish culture in flow-through, recirculating and pond systems that dominate the Great Lakes region. Programming in Texas would focus on saltwater aquaculture production, with the opportunity to incorporate both finfish and shellfish culture into site visits. Participants will also have structured opportunities to network and build relationships both during and after the formal in-person programming.    

The team will conduct a formative evaluation after the first cycle of ALA 2.0 and a summative evaluation near the end of the project. The formative evaluation will assess whether it is meeting learning objectives in year one. The summative evaluation will assess the program’s overall success and identify areas for improvement. One year after completing ALA 2.0, participants will receive a follow-up survey to assess long-term program benefits, network strength and ongoing or new collaborations formed through the program.

Rationale

Aquaculture is important to meeting the growing global need for protein and though it is increasing in the U.S., there are barriers to the industry in many regions. Existing issues include, limited social license for aquaculture, fewer programs supporting farmers compared to other agriculture sectors, and a need for clearer regulations and policies. Many of these problems can be addressed by aquaculture extension staff, and research has shown that extension programs - Sea Grant in particular - are essential to industry success. There remains a strong need to expand aquaculture extension capacity to support the industry in economically, environmentally and socially sustainable ways, and this is particularly true for the Great Lakes and Gulf regions. 

Establishing professional development in the form of a second Aquaculture Leadership Academy (ALA 2.0) in these regions is timely and has the potential to support this burgeoning industry. Minnesota Sea Grant and Texas Sea Grant partnered on this proposal to showcase different sectors of the aquaculture industry not featured during ALA 1.0, which was East Coast based in North Carolina and New Hampshire. 

Expanding ALA to Minnesota and Texas will expose participants to both freshwater and saltwater aquaculture operations. By including both inland freshwater systems and coastal saltwater operations, ALA 2.0 will expand participants’ understanding of the range of aquaculture practices and how the industry develops across different regions of the U.S. The proposed ALA programming offers extension staff working in aquaculture the opportunity to deepen their understanding of regional and national issues facing the sector. Participants will connect with aquaculture professionals from across the country, experience operations in new settings and engage in activities that foster innovation, collaboration and knowledge exchange. Together, these experiences will help strengthen this dynamic network of aquaculture professionals capable of supporting this developing industry.