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Aquaculture 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. | ||
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