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Courtesy of NAA:

The purpose of the Aquaculture Research program is to support the development of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in the U.S. and generate new science-based information and innovation to address industry constraints. Over the long term, results of projects supported by this program may help improve the profitability of the U.S. aquaculture industry, reduce the U.S. trade deficit, increase domestic food security, provide markets for U.S.-produced grain products, increase domestic aquaculture business investment opportunities, and provide more jobs for rural and coastal America.
 
The Aquaculture Research program will fund projects that directly address major constraints to the U.S. aquaculture industry and focus on one or more of the following program priorities: (1) genetics of commercial aquaculture species; (2) critical disease issues impacting aquaculture species; (3) design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems; and (4) economic research for increasing aquaculture profitability.
 
Two types of applications are available:

• Standard project proposals: The intent is to fund applied research that address program priorities with a maximum total award of $300,000 and maximum duration of 2 years.
• Seed project proposals: For FY 2019, new category was added for smaller, research seed projects that total between $50,000 to $100,000 and are limited to 1-year duration (except in rare circumstances).

Eligible Applicants:

Applications may be submitted by State agricultural experiment stations, all colleges and universities, other research institutions and organizations, Federal agencies, private organizations or corporations, and individuals for the purpose of conducting research, extension, or education activities to facilitate or expand promising breakthroughs in areas of the food and agricultural sciences of importance to the United States.
 
Dates: 

• April 29th, 2019 – A Letter of Intent (LOI) is highly encouraged and should be received by 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time 
• May 28, 2019 – Full applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Other key information: 

• This program is limited to applied research.
• Applications must include U.S. aquaculture industry involvement. This can include, but is not limited to, a U.S. aquaculture producer as a co-project director or partner or assembling an industry advisory committee for the project (e.g., a farmer’s advisory committee for the project that can also include producer-based organizations, feed manufacturers, animal health industry, etc.).
• Applications must clearly state how the research results or technology developed will be transferred to end-users outside of direct, scientific peers.
• Applicants must clearly describe how their specific research project will increase U.S. aquaculture production or profitability in the short or medium-term (1-5 years after the grant ends).
• For the critical disease Program Area Priority, proposals that focus on pathogens that pose a risk to humans or human food safety (vs. those that affect the health of an aquaculture species) are outside the scope of this program and will not be accepted or considered for review.
• Applicants must provide a plan to release research results to the public in a timely manner and provide a description and budgeted plan for the release of research results that is compliant with the terms and conditions that govern USDA NIFA-funded projects in aquaculture. Terms and conditions can be found at: https://www.nifa.usda.gov/business/awards/awardterms.html.
• Applicants must include statistical power analyses, when appropriate, and describe the experimental design, experimental unit, replication and sample size for each experimental group.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the American Fisheries Society (AFS) document, Guidelines for the Use of Fishes in Research (2014), when developing applications.
• The inclusion of students actively engaged in the scholarship of the research projects is strongly encouraged (particularly undergraduate student interns and trainees, graduate students, and post-doctoral research associates) to provide hands-on, experiential learning and training opportunities. Actively engaged students should be encouraged to contribute to presentations, articles, posters, and other expressions of scholarship that reflect their own work on the project.
• Matching support is no longer required for the Aquaculture Research program.

Abstracts of Funded Projects: Read the abstracts here
 
For complete information and/or to apply, visit:
https://www.nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/special-research-grants-program-aquaculture-research.