USDA will be hosting a series of listening sessions providing the U.S. aquaculture industry an opportunity to communicate how USDA can best serve this farming community.  These Deep Dive sessions hosted by various USDA Agencies (see below) across the Department’s eight Mission Areas will be offered November 9 – 30 and will be followed by a December 11 webinar entitled Aquaculture is Agriculture: USDA’s Role in supporting Farmers of Fish, Shellfish and Aquatic Plants.  The webinar will feature presentations from USDA leaders; stakeholders representing seaweeds, shellfish, finfish and other sectors of agriculture; and report-outs from each of the six Deep Dive sessions that will be captured for publication.  These events will raise the visibility of aquaculture within USDA and provide valuable engagement opportunities for farmers interested in USDA programs.  

Each Deep Dive Topic session and the Webinar must be registered for separately and in advance.  For more information on USDA Aquaculture please visit https://www.usda.gov/topics/farming/aquaculture.

Each session will be up to 3 hours, taking place from 2 pm – 5 pm EST on the day scheduled.

November 9, 2020      Environmental Management
Chaired by Gene Kim and Jan Surface, NRCS
Relevant Agencies: APHIS, ARS, NIFA, NRCS
Register here.

November 10, 2020    Aquatic Health
Chaired by Kathleen Hartman, APHIS
Relevant Agencies: APHIS, ARS, NIFA, FSA, RMA
Register here.

November 16, 2020    Supporting Aquaculture
Co-Chaired by Andrew Jermolowicz, RD, Alex Sereno, RMA and Christopher Vasquez, FSA
Relevant Agencies: FSA, RD, RMA
Register here.

November 17,2020     Product and Consumer Marketing
Chaired by Carl Schroeder, AMS
Relevant Agencies: AMS, NIFA, FSIS, ERS
Register here.

November 20, 2020    Product Innovation and Technology
Co-Chaired by Tim Sullivan and Christopher Green, NIFA
Relevant Agencies: ARS, NIFA, ERS
Register here.

November 30, 2020    Aquaculture Production Research
Co-Chaired by Amrit Bart and Christopher Green, NIFA
Relevant Agencies: ARS, NIFA
Register here.