Special Research Grants Program - Aquaculture Research | USDA NIFA SRGP 006738

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA SRGP 006738

The Special Research Grants Program (SRGP) Aquaculture Research opportunity, offered by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), is a discretionary grant program designed to strengthen the U.S. aquaculture sector by funding practical, science-based work that tackles the industrys most pressing barriers. The core aim is to support research and related activities that help build an aquaculture industry that can grow while remaining both environmentally responsible and economically viable. In other words, the program is looking for projects that do not just add knowledge in the abstract, but generate usable innovations and data that can move the industry forward.

The program frames aquaculture as a strategic national interest with long-term economic and food-system benefits. NIFA highlights outcomes such as improved profitability for domestic producers, a reduced seafood trade deficit, stronger domestic food security, and new demand for U.S.-grown feed grains. It also points to broader community impacts, including increased investment opportunities in aquaculture businesses and job creation, particularly in rural and coastal regions where aquaculture can be an important driver of local economies. The overall message is that successful projects should have a clear pathway to real-world impact on production, efficiency, sustainability, or market performance.

Funded work must directly address major constraints facing U.S. aquaculture and align with at least one of four stated priorities. The first priority is genetics of commercial aquaculture species, which can include efforts such as improving growth rates, feed conversion, resilience to environmental stressors, or other heritable traits that affect production performance. The second priority targets critical disease issues impacting aquaculture species, supporting approaches that reduce disease-related losses through better understanding of pathogens, prevention strategies, diagnostics, management practices, or other disease-control innovations. The third priority focuses on the design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems, which can span engineering and system design, water and waste management, energy use, and production models that reduce environmental impacts while remaining cost-effective. The fourth priority is economic research aimed at increasing aquaculture profitability, which can include analyses of production costs, market barriers, risk management, adoption of new technologies, or other factors that influence whether aquaculture ventures succeed financially.

Eligibility is broad and includes state agricultural experiment stations, colleges and universities, other research institutions and organizations, federal agencies, private organizations or corporations, and even individuals, as long as the proposed work supports research, extension, or education activities tied to breakthroughs in food and agricultural sciences relevant to the United States. This wide eligibility suggests NIFA is open to proposals coming from academic, public-sector, and private-sector perspectives, including partnerships that can move results from lab or pilot settings into industry use.

Key administrative details from the listing include the funding opportunity title Special Research Grants Program - Aquaculture Research, funding opportunity number USDA NIFA SRGP 006738, CFDA 10.200, and an award ceiling of $300,000. The original closing date shown is May 28, 2019, and the opportunity was created March 29, 2019. Overall, the grant is positioned to support targeted, solution-oriented aquaculture projects that can demonstrate relevance to industry constraints and deliver measurable benefits to the sustainability and competitiveness of U.S. aquaculture.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Special Research Grants Program - Aquaculture Research" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.200.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2019-03-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2019-05-28. (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 $300,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA SRGP 006738

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