$15M Award to Strengthen Rhode Island, New England Seafood Industry

A four-state New England collaboration that includes Rhode Island has received an initial $15 million National Science Foundation award to strengthen the region’s commercial fishing, aquaculture and seafood-processing industries through new technology.

Rhode Island participants include the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, the Ocean Tech Hub, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, Rhode Island Sea Grant and the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Marta Gomez-Chiarri is the leader of the URI team.

The NSF Seafood Engine in New England is led by NERACOOS, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based nonprofit ocean-observing organization. It brings together seafood businesses, technology companies, government agencies and research institutions in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.

The initial NSF award will provide $15 million over two years. The full $160 million is not guaranteed. The Seafood Engine could eventually receive as much as $160 million over ten years, but additional funding will depend on its progress toward defined milestones.

NSF said continued funding will depend on the Seafood Engine meeting “well-defined milestones” during its initial two-year period. The agency pointed to its first group of nine Regional Innovation Engines as evidence of the program’s ability to attract additional investment: an initial $135 million in federal funding has generated more than $2 billion in commitments from private companies, philanthropic organizations and state and local governments.

New England accounts for approximately 25 percent of the value of seafood produced nationally, according to the organization. Technology and programs developed through the initiative could eventually be used by fisheries and aquaculture operations around the country.

“NSF Engines investments in critical technologies and future industries will transform America’s innovation infrastructure for decades to come,” said Brian Stone, performing the duties of NSF director.

Stone said the Seafood Engine will employ artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and robotics to strengthen the seafood supply chain “from harvesting to consumer delivery.”

At the outset, the Seafood Engine plans to:

• Fund research and development projects connecting seafood harvesters, academic researchers and technology companies.
• Deploy advanced sensors aboard fishing vessels and at aquaculture farms to collect more timely information about ocean conditions.
• Establish a consortium of regional seafood apprenticeship programs, allowing new workers to participate in research and put emerging technology into practice.
• Help “blue technology” companies move products that have completed the research phase toward commercial production.

Longer-term efforts will focus on rebuilding domestic seafood-processing capacity, strengthening supply chains and creating opportunities for small and midsized coastal businesses.

“Built on the ingenuity and steadfast determination at the heart of America’s oldest commercial enterprise, the Seafood Engine is ready to confront key challenges facing the industry with bold innovation,” said Jake Kritzer, the Engine’s principal investigator and executive director of NERACOOS.

Rhode Island’s role

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee welcomed the award, describing fisheries and aquaculture as important parts of the Ocean State’s economy and culture.

“Today’s NSF Engines award strengthens Rhode Island’s partnership with our New England peers and reinforces our leadership in advancing and growing the U.S. seafood industry,” McKee said. “Thank you to the NSF and our Seafood Engine partners—we look forward to achieving our goals together.”

The Seafood Engine was selected following a national competition that began in 2024 with nearly 300 letters of intent. Seventy-one proposals advanced to the next stage, 29 teams were invited to provide detailed presentations and 15 finalists received two-day site visits. The New England initiative was among 12 ultimately selected for NSF Engine awards.

The president’s seafood order

The initiative also supports goals established in President Donald Trump’s April 17, 2025, executive order, “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.”

The order directs federal agencies to increase domestic seafood production, reduce regulations affecting commercial fishing and aquaculture, expand seafood-processing capacity and improve the industry’s access to domestic and international markets.

The White House said American seafood producers face excessive regulation and unfair foreign competition, citing a seafood trade deficit exceeding $20 billion and estimating that nearly 90 percent of seafood sold in the United States is imported.

Among its provisions, the order directs the Commerce Department and other federal agencies to:

• Review fishing, aquaculture and seafood-processing regulations for possible suspension, revision or repeal.
• Work with regional fishery management councils to identify ways to increase seafood production, improve fishermen’s access to fisheries, stabilize markets and prevent closures.
• Modernize fisheries data collection and incorporate less expensive and more reliable technology into fish-stock assessments.
• Expand cooperative research and exempted fishing-permit programs that allow testing of new fishing practices and technology.
• Develop an “America First Seafood Strategy” to promote the production, marketing, sale and export of American seafood while strengthening domestic processing.
• Encourage greater use of American seafood in federal nutrition programs and educate consumers about its health benefits.
• Address illegal, unreported and unregulated foreign fishing, forced labor in overseas seafood supply chains and other trade practices considered unfair to American producers.
• Improve inspections of higher-risk seafood imports at U.S. ports.
• Review marine national monuments and recommend whether any should be reopened to commercial fishing.

The Seafood Engine’s emphasis on advanced sensors, real-time ocean information, commercial technology, workforce development and domestic processing closely follows several of those priorities.

Federal and regional organizers say the larger goal is to make New England a nationally significant seafood-technology center while reducing American dependence on imported seafood.