Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) received funding from Massachusetts, added into the state
budget by Representative David Vieira, to "conduct a study identifying research and
development objectives and funding mechanisms to enhance Massachusetts seafood industry
resilience."

The justification for this funding is to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of
Massachusetts seafood and to support the Commonwealth’s resilience to changing climate, ocean
industrialization, and other stressors to coastal ecosystems and communities. Stressors include
offshore wind energy installations, endangered species mandates, marine protected areas, and
other ocean uses. For the purposes of this funding, the industry consists of fishermen,
aquaculture growers, processors, distributors, and restaurant trades.

We believe that sustainable seafood production is an environmentally efficient way to produce
food, given its relatively low carbon footprint and efficient use of resources, to mitigate the
effects of climate change. We should also point out the economics; that Massachusetts was
second to Alaska in ex-vessel value of landings in 2019 at $681.1 million.

Our approach is to develop a report that identifies specific projects firmly backed by the seafood
industry that meet core objectives of seafood resiliency in the Commonwealth and should be
considered for funding. Proposed projects should focus on areas of research and improvement,
such as, the development of new fisheries, enhancement of current fisheries, creating new
aquaculture opportunities, and marketing local seafood products. We are also canvassing for
feedback on how these projects can be funded.

CFF is soliciting from you summarized project ideas. An example of a fishery development
project is attached to this letter for reference. We have staff available to help fishermen and
others write up their project ideas into a preferred format. We would like to have a first draft of
your project proposal by Friday, November 18th 2022.

Please contact Justin Potter, the CFF Project Coordinator, for more information on how to
participate. Justin can be reached at jpotter@cfarm.org or by phone: 508-356-3601.

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View the full report below...