Lake Champlain Sea Grant Awarded $347,000 in NOAA Funding to Expand Aquaculture Work
By Jessie Curl, Communications Lead and Program Specialist, Lake Champlain Sea Grant
Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) was awarded $347,000 in funding by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to expand technical assistance and strengthen aquaculture production, business viability, and workforce capacity in the Lake Champlain basin of Vermont and New York. Aquaculture, the controlled cultivation and harvesting of aquatic organisms, is a key focus area within the 2024–2028 Strategic Planning goals for LCSG.
Spanning Vermont and New York, the Lake Champlain basin represents an underutilized but promising geography for freshwater and land-based aquaculture development. With favorable conditions such as established agricultural infrastructure, abundant freshwater resources, proximity to Northeast consumer markets, and producer interest, significant opportunity exists to advance aquaculture development in the basin.
To support aquaculture efforts in the Lake Champlain Basin, LCSG began fostering relationships with producers, state agencies, educational institutions, and regional stakeholders in 2020. Now, with a strong foundation established, LCSG is equipped for more structured coordination and the establishment of a basin-wide extension hub that expands producer relationships, delivers technical assistance, and generates market intelligence.
“Lake Champlain Sea Grant has spent the last six years nurturing the Basin’s small aquaculture industry. With this new federal funding, and with the technical expertise of LCSG’s aquaculture specialist Dr. John Brawley, we are now in the position to take our work to the next level and grow aquaculture’s impact on the food systems and economy of the region. I’m looking forward to tasting big accomplishments of the next few years,” said LCSG Director Anne Jefferson.
This initiative takes a three-pronged approach, integrating strategically connected activities to fully support aquaculture advancement and support in the basin. The initiative will begin with the formalization of the Lake Champlain Basin aquaculture hub that serves as a regional point of contact for producers seeking technical, economic, and business development assistance. LCSG Aquaculture Specialist Dr. John Brawley will coordinate with New York Sea Grant on activities throughout the basin, leveraging expertise through joint site visits and producer consultations.
LCSG will also offer a series of public-facing events, including seafood tastings, perception events, and consumer education programming, developed and delivered in partnership with regional food system organizations, restaurants, and retailers. These events will build public awareness of locally farmed aquaculture products, communicate the health and sustainability benefits of domestically produced seafood, and support market development for basin-area producers.
“What is great about this project is that we can continue putting these ideas into practice,” said LCSG Aquaculture Specialist John Brawley. “We’ll be working directly with producers, testing what is economically and technically realistic for our region, and building connections that should continue well beyond the life of this grant.”
To further support producers, LCSG will also conduct a review of literature and create a prioritized species list that will inform economic models and planning tools for several land-based aquaculture candidate species, including rainbow trout, yellow perch, walleye, brook trout, striped bass, tilapia, and baitfish. LCSG’s research collaboration will be expanded with the North Carolina State University Pamlico Aquaculture Field Laboratory (PAFL) and StriperHub, a formally recognized National Sea Grant collaborative advancing land-based striped bass aquaculture in the United States.
Through this funding, aquaculture producers in the Lake Champlain basin will gain access to expanded technical support and a strong network of producers, agencies, and partners. A market assessment report and decision-support tools, informed by peer-reviewed economic analyses, will help producers and entrepreneurs make informed business decisions. The project will also produce extension publications, workforce development programs, and scientific resources that enhance knowledge sharing and strengthen the aquaculture industry in the Northeast.
Congressional appropriations supporting Sea Grant aquaculture research, extension, and education have enabled Lake Champlain Sea Grant to expand its focus on aquaculture across the basin. In addition, this investment responds to Executive Order 14276’s call to promote domestic production, strengthen supply chains, and educate American consumers about the health benefits of seafood.
Learn more about aquaculture on our website.