The Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) is soliciting proposals from individuals, companies, or organizations, as part of a new program designed to accelerate innovation in the Alaska mariculture industry by funding applied research and development projects which address barriers to growth in Alaska’s mariculture industry.
Donor Name: Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation
State: Alaska
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/31/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $100,000
Grant Duration: 18 months
Details:
Joint Innovation Projects, is a part of the Research and Development component of the Alaska Mariculture Cluster (AMC), a coalition funded by a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) grant. A Governance Body will guide the work and equity metrics of the Alaska Mariculture Cluster. AFDF is a part of the coalition, one of the subaward recipients, and the AFDF executive director serves on the Governance Body. As part of its subaward, AFDF will oversee a portion of the Research and Development component, and in particular, the Joint Innovation Projects. The Research and Development component is one of seven components, which have been purposely designed to be complementary in order to break down barriers to growth, and break out of the “chicken or egg” cycle of industry development.
Project Categories
The following project categories were chosen to address identified barriers to growth. Project proposals must identify one of the following eligible categories for which to apply:
- Innovations in processing (oysters or seaweed)
- Examples:
- Primary stabilization of seaweed (freezing, drying, fermentation, meal)
- Secondary processing
- Freezing oysters
- Other product development
- Examples:
- Innovations in bull kelp farming
- Examples:
- Farm design
- Cultivation techniques
- Seeding density
- High current sites
- Examples:
- Innovations in mooring system technology, design and/or deployment
- Boosting oyster growth at nurseries or farms
- Shellfish enhancement.
Funding Information
- Proposals may only request funding up to $100,000. Matching funds are not required, but will score extra points.
- Selected proposals will be funded for a timeline of up to 18-month projects
- Start dates must be between July 1 to December 31, 2023.
Eligibility Criteria
The following entities are eligible to submit proposals for funding under the Joint Innovation Projects:
- Companies doing work in Alaska, with an Alaska team member
- Alaska companies (hatcheries, nurseries, aquatic farmers, primary processors, or secondary processors)
- Alaska non-profits
- Alaska tribes
- Alaska Native Corporations
- Alaska communities.
For more information, visit AFDF.
