NOAA Sea Grant 2017 Aquaculture Initiative: Addressing Impediments to Aquaculture Opportunities | NOAA OAR SG 2017 2005177

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2017 2005177

The NOAA Sea Grant 2017 Aquaculture Initiative, titled "Addressing Impediments to Aquaculture Opportunities" (Funding Opportunity Number NOAA OAR SG 2017 2005177), is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the Department of Commerce designed to help remove practical obstacles slowing the growth of sustainable aquaculture in the United States. The initiative focuses on marine, coastal, and Great Lakes aquaculture, with an emphasis on targeted efforts that answer real-world questions and resolve bottlenecks that prevent new or developing aquaculture ventures from moving forward. NOAA Sea Grant anticipated a total of $3,000,000 in available funding across fiscal years 2017 and 2018, depending on appropriations, and planned to make roughly 20 awards under this competition.

The opportunity supports proposals that are intentionally small-scale and problem-solving in nature, rather than broad or purely academic. NOAA Sea Grant is looking for projects such as pilot or demonstration efforts, applied research tied to on-the-ground needs, business planning, stakeholder workshops, extension and outreach activities, technology transfer, and even certain legal or regulatory-focused activities, as long as they directly address barriers to domestic aquaculture development. The central theme is removing hurdles that limit expansion of U.S. aquaculture production, whether those hurdles involve technology, operational feasibility, market readiness, permitting and compliance challenges, training needs, or coordination gaps between industry and public agencies.

Individual applications may request up to $150,000 in total federal funding, with project periods ranging from six months to two years. A major condition is the non-federal match requirement: applicants must provide at least a 50 percent match (for example, a request of $100,000 in federal funds requires at least $50,000 in non-federal matching funds, resulting in a $150,000 total project budget). Funding is provided through grants and/or cooperative agreements, under CFDA 11.417, within the broad federal activity categories of environment, natural resources, and science and technology research and development.

To be considered responsive, proposals must meet all stated program objectives. First, the work must support aquaculture of ocean, coastal, or Great Lakes species, including both state- and federally-managed species, and it must relate to production efforts occurring in the coastal zone as defined by the Coastal Zone Management Act (explicitly including the Great Lakes region). This geographic and jurisdictional scope includes state waters, the terrestrial coastal zone, and federal waters. Second, the project must directly tackle key questions, barriers, or hurdles that currently limit domestic aquaculture development, using applied approaches such as research, extension, technology transfer, small-scale projects, business plans, or workshops. Third, NOAA Sea Grant requires a team-based approach that fully integrates at least one Sea Grant program and includes at least one end-user or a public-private partnership, ensuring that proposed work stays grounded in practical adoption and real industry or community needs rather than remaining theoretical.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity opened in February 2017 (creation date February 17, 2017) and had an original application deadline of April 18, 2017. Awards were expected to begin no later than September 1, 2017, and NOAA noted that additional applications from the same competition could be selected for funding in fiscal year 2018. Eligible applicants are listed broadly as "Others" with further clarification referenced in the full eligibility text, which typically signals that eligibility may include a mix of institutions such as universities, nonprofits, industry groups, and other organizations depending on Sea Grant and federal requirements.

In practical terms, this opportunity is aimed at teams that can demonstrate a clear, specific impediment to aquaculture progress and propose a realistic, time-bounded plan to reduce or remove that impediment, with committed partners who will use the results. Competitive applications would be expected to show a strong connection between the work and near-term outcomes for aquaculture development, including tangible deliverables (such as permitting roadmaps, operational protocols, demonstration results, training materials, business feasibility outputs, or stakeholder-driven recommendations) that can be adopted by producers, managers, or other end-users to support responsible growth in U.S. aquaculture.

• The Department of Commerce in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NOAA Sea Grant 2017 Aquaculture Initiative: Addressing Impediments to Aquaculture Opportunities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.417.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 17, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 18, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NOAA OAR SG 2017 2005177

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