Project

NSPIRE: Bringing Technological Innovation to Fisheries and Seafood

Transforming seafood systems through tech-powered partnerships.

NSPIRE, led by the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS), will address the economic, environmental, and policy challenges threatening New England’s seafood industry through technological innovation that strengthens boat-to-plate initiatives and collaborative science across the supply chain.

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Project Goals:

Mobilize New England’s dynamic, expanding, and world‑leading tech sector to break through bottlenecks across the seafood supply chain.
Bring boat‑to‑plate initiatives and collaborative science to the table to increase the volume, quality, consistency, variety, and value of seafood products in New England and across the U.S.
Scale existing cross-sector partnerships, projects, and programs into a thriving innovation ecosystem.
Ground R&D efforts in the real-world needs of harvesters, processors, distributors, and marketers.
Prepare the next generation of seafood industry professionals through integration of technological training.
Engage public, private, and philanthropic investors to support growth at the intersection of seafood and technology.

New England is a cornerstone of America’s seafood industry. Building on deep connections among Native American Tribes with the sea, fishing in New England was the first commercial enterprise of the United States, laying the foundation for a powerful maritime economy that continues to support coastal communities. Today, aquaculture adds to this legacy, serving as a testament to the power of innovation and ingenuity. However, economic, environmental, and policy challenges that contribute to a more than $20 billion national seafood deficit have brought New England’s iconic seafood industry to a crossroads.

NSPIRE will confront these challenges head‑on by mobilizing New England’s dynamic, expanding, and world‑leading tech sector toward breaking through bottlenecks across the seafood supply chain. Technological innovation is the vehicle through which NSPIRE will bring unprecedented levels of boat‑to‑plate and industry‑to‑science collaboration to increase the volume, quality, consistency, variety, and, ultimately, value of seafood products in New England and across the U.S.

Paving the way for the future of seafood.

Learn how NSPIRE will build a seafood innovation ecosystem in New England.

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Building NSPIRE into an NSF Engine would enable the vibrant partnerships and innovations at its core to expand and mesh into a dynamic ecosystem with six key focus areas:

Cross‑Sector Partnerships & Stakeholder Alignment

Bringing together the full spectrum of seafood industry stakeholders in all NSPIRE activities is critical.

Use‑Inspired Research & Development

Grounded in the day‑to‑day operations and challenges of seafood industry members, NSPIRE’s R&D has a direct pipeline to adoption. Harvesters, processors, distributors, and marketers are core collaborators.

Translation of Innovation to Practice

New England’s tech sector can adapt tools developed for other applications— such as the defense sector — and channel them into the seafood industry to create new value.

Workforce Development

Integrating technological tools into early‑career training is essential. Established programs like the Commercial Fishing Apprenticeship Program and Deckhand to Captain Training Program offer entry points to region‑wide workforce development tied to NSPIRE’s innovations.

Regional Engagement

NSPIRE will leverage existing cross‑sector partnerships, projects, and programs whose full impact has been limited by scale. Through strategic engagement with commercial fisheries and aquaculture, NSPIRE will bring new partners into a unified innovation ecosystem.

Strategic Regional Investment

To grow both New England’s historic seafood industry and its emerging tech sector, NSPIRE seeks to energize public, private, and philanthropic investors.