Fun + Innovation at the 2024 Aquaculture Conference

There are a number of regional and national shellfish and aquaculture conferences held throughout the year, but every so often two of them - the Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Expo (NACE) and the Milford Aquaculture Seminar (MAS) - are combined to create a massive 3-day meeting that inspires innovation and advancement in the field. It is so exciting to connect with both old and new friends and colleagues, representing all aspects of aquaculture: science and research, education, production and industry, and government.

CCE Marine Staff (left to right): Kim, Danielle, Kate, Demetrios, Jesse, and Amanda

This year, NACE/MAS was hosted in Providence, Rhode Island, and CCE Marine was well represented! Back to the Bays Aquaculture Coordinator, Kate Rossi-Snook, spoke on behalf of New York for a state-by-state aquaculture industry update, joined by nine other speakers from Virginia up to Maine and Canada. Additionally, S.P.A.T.’s beloved Kim Tetrault presented on the long-running success of the program during one of the education sessions, and we loved seeing him highlight our annual Shellabration fundraiser.

Shellabration shoutout!

The most exciting part about this year’s combined conference was the heavy focus on education, outreach and engagement within the field of aquaculture - something that the Back to the Bays team loves to see! We have returned to the East End full of inspiration and ideas. A standout presentation was one that offered curriculum scaffolding for not only bringing aquaponics systems into classrooms, but having kids design, build, and test those systems themselves! We can definitely say that Kate had a lot of fun with that one - who doesn’t love some hands on learning?

Kate (center) having fun during the classroom aquaponics workshop

Throughout 2024 we will be doing some program development and trials so that we can further integrate Back to the Bays into our local schools - we looking forward to expanding our environmental education reach in the very near future! For now, be sure to check out our East End Education site for information on the current programming we offer. These programs can be customized for any age group and aim to integrate hands-on science concepts of course fosters environmental stewardship with a focus on the key species we work with through the Back to the Bays Initiative!

Kim (left) couldn’t resist joining in on the aquaponics construction fun