Courtesy of NAA:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an investment of over $12.5 million as part of the USDA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The Phase I awards will support 76 small businesses conducting high-quality research that addresses critical scientific challenges and opportunities in agriculture.
The program’s aquaculture priority is supporting the following projects:
- DEVELOPING TOOLS AND PROTOCOLS TO ESTABLISH FRESHWATER COD (BURBOT; LOTA LOTA) AS A NEW COMMERCIAL AQUACULTURE SPECIES IN THE US. from EVERGREEN AQUATICS
- PRODUCTION OF LARGEMOUTH BASS FOR THE FOOD FISH MARKET USING COMMERCIAL SPLIT-POND SYSTEMS from AMERICAN SPORT FISH HATCHERY MANAGEMENT GROUP LLC
- FIELD-DEPLOYABLE CRISPR-BASED DIAGNOSTICS FOR IMPROVED BIOSECURITY IN AQUACULTURE from SHERLOCK BIOSCIENCES, INC.
- LOW-COST DIAGNOSTIC PLATFORM FOR AQUACULTURE from EMERGINGDX INC
- INFRARED BIOCHEMICAL SENSOR FOR ALGAL PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT from MAX-IR LABS INCORPORATED
- EVALUATION OF FIELD PERFORMANCE OF HYBRID PACIFIC OYSTERS FROM CROSSBREEDING from PACIFIC HYBREED, INC.
Phase I request for SBIR and STTR funding is currently accepting proposals until September 19, 2023.
The STTR program was implemented by NIFA in 2022 after USDA reached a $1 billion threshold in extramural research funding. Learn more about USDA’s SBIR-STTR programs on the NIFA website.
If you are any other individual engaged in aquaculture wishes to know more about the program and applications to it, please contact Tim Sullivan, National Program Leader, Anima Health and Aquaculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, at timothy.sullivan@usda.gov.