The University of Southern Mississippi and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium will help lead a new $13.5 million national effort to expand U.S. seafood production, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The five-year program, led by the University of New Hampshire, is called the Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Markets, or CIFARM.
Reginald Blaylock, director of USM’s Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center, said the United States lags in marine aquaculture and relies heavily on imports. NOAA estimates Americans consume about $24.2 billion in imported seafood each year, much of it farmed abroad, Blaylock said.
USM and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium will serve as the Gulf of Mexico regional leads within the cooperative, Blaylock said. Steve Sempier, director of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, said the organization will work with Sea Grant programs in Texas, Louisiana and Florida to identify regional needs and opportunities.
NOAA said CIFARM projects will focus on demonstration farms, engineering, artificial intelligence, environmental forecasting, risk management and seafood markets. Blaylock said researchers at USM will contribute experience with marine species and production methods to help farmers choose appropriate species and practices.
Sempier said community input will guide the initiative. He said Sea Grant plans to hold workshops and listening sessions next year to gather questions, concerns and ideas from Gulf Coast residents. “The U.S. imports almost 90% of the seafood it eats,” Blaylock said. “What we want to see come out of this is American products on American plates.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
