Among
the Commonwealth’s state agencies, marketing and promotional support
of aquaculture and aquaculture products is the primary responsibility
of the Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR). To that end,
since the 1996 commencement of the Aquaculture Development Program
a number of initiatives have been taken in effort to support the
industry. Principal among those has been the annual participation
in The International
Boston Seafood Show IBSS. In preparation for
the show, each year interested aquaculture industry members participate
in planning the booth and at the show in efforts to advertise
their products and service and to increase the awareness about
aquaculture in Massachusetts. The ultimate intent of exposing
industry members to the IBSS is to encourage their continued participation
through the eventual renting of booth space adjacent to the DAR
booth. Through increased industry participation, a strong Massachusetts
presence will be seen at the show, increasing awareness and public
recognition of Massachusetts grown and fresher aquaculture products.
The Massachusetts
Seafood Database is
another opportunity for increase sales and marketing opportunities
for Massachusetts’s seafood and aquaculture products. Developed
by DAR with funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration
through the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, the
data base is a public resource, designed to showcase seafood
products available from Massachusetts. Buyers may use
the database to search for seafood products, and to fax or email
suppliers for quotes directly from this web site. Sellers
may register their products, update their company information,
and browser trade leads entered by buyers. Both Buyers and Sellers
have to register to list products or get quotes, but no registration
is required simply to browse. There is no cost for either buyers
or sellers to use this site.
Promotional and marketing
support have also been made available through grant programs
at DAR Bureau
of Markets and
the Massachusetts
Aquaculture Grants Program
The Massachusetts Aquaculture Centers Network that is
comprised of the Northeastern and Southeastern Massachusetts
Aquaculture Centers and the Western Massachusetts Center for
Sustainable Aquaculture (NEMAC, SEMAC
and
WMCSA
) also provides marketing and promotional assistance
through a variety of exhibits and events. One such program is
SEMAC’s support of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association
publication Massachusetts Aquaculture
Products Directory. The voluntary listing provides address
and contact information for a variety of Massachusetts grown
and fresher aquaculture products.
