NSF Seafood Engine

Over the next decade, the NSF Seafood Engine will bring together more than 50 partners across Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island to accelerate technological innovation across New England's seafood supply chain. The work ahead is focused on increasing the volume, quality, consistency, variety, and value of seafood products, with the goal of improving the prosperity of coastal communities, bolstering regional food security, and helping reduce the nation's more than $20 billion seafood trade deficit.

The Engine will pursue this work through connected strategies: funding R&D projects that pair seafood harvesters and aquaculture farms with academic researchers and technology companies to build ocean intelligence through sensors and data tools; building a consortium of regional workforce apprenticeship programs that bring new entrants into R&D and give them a hand in putting innovations into practice; and providing translation funding to help blue-tech companies that have moved past the R&D phase reach commercialization. Over time, these R&D, workforce development, and translation efforts are intended to work together to strengthen processing capacity and the full seafood supply chain, from harvest to market.

The Engine is led by NERACOOS, and we are serving alongside the Maine Coast Fishermen's Association (MCFA) as the lead institutions for the State of Maine, together with core partners at the University of Maine and the Penobscot Nation. Through this work, we aim to translate research into real-world impact for the seafood economy.

Initial funding provides $15 million to the broader Engines team over the first two years. Following a successful initial phase, the Engine is eligible for up to an additional $145 million over the following eight years — creating the opportunity for sustained investment in research, technology, and workforce development across the region well into the next decade.

The NSF Seafood Engine will enable the vibrant partnerships and innovations at its core to expand and mesh into a dynamic ecosystem with six key focus areas.

Cross‑Sector Partnerships & Stakeholder Alignment
Bringing together the full spectrum of seafood industry stakeholders in all NSF Seafood Engine activities is critical.

Use‑Inspired Research & Development
Grounded in the day‑to‑day operations and challenges of seafood industry members, the NSF Seafood Engine's R&D has a direct pipeline to adoption. Harvesters, processors, distributors, and marketers are core collaborators.

Translation of Innovation to Practice
New England's tech sector can adapt tools developed for other applications, such as the defense sector, and channel them into the seafood industry to create new value.

Workforce Development
Integrating technological tools into early‑career training is essential. Established programs like the Commercial Fishing Apprenticeship Program and Deckhand to Captain Training Program offer entry points to region‑wide workforce development tied to the NSF Seafood Engine's innovations.

Regional Engagement
The NSF Seafood Engine will leverage existing cross‑sector partnerships, projects, and programs whose full impact has been limited by scale. Through strategic engagement with commercial fisheries and aquaculture, the NSF Seafood Engine will bring new partners into a unified innovation ecosystem.

Strategic Regional Investment
To grow both New England's historic seafood industry and its emerging tech sector, the NSF Seafood Engine seeks to energize public, private, and philanthropic investors.