Progress 01/01/22 to 02/25/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for the project includes: Consumers of farmed aquaculture product Finish and Shellfish Farms and Value-added Producers Aquaculture stakeholders throughout the U.S While the project is in response to Program Area 6: Agriculture economics and rural communities; Program Area Priority b: Economics, Markets and Trade, it supports four of the six priority areas in the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics report. For reporting period one (1/1/22 to 12/31/22) the target audiences reached were consumers of farmed aquaculture products and the aquaculture stakeholders who participated in the survey design and review of raw survey data. In reporting period two (1/1/23 to 12/31/23), the entire audience was reached through the delivery of our reports and interactive tools, as part of an extensive outreach and extension effort. In reporting period three (1/1/24 to 12/31/24), the entire audience was reached again through the final completion of our outreach and extension plan (see full report for methodology and total reach). The non-confidential technical report submitted directly to the national program leader contains all graphics, charts, and other data specific to the target audiences reached as part of each technical objective and task. Changes/Problems:Following a robust data and management plan, the company was able to execute all tasks as originally proposed in the approved application. The timeline of our execution was altered, as needed, based on the results of each task and their impact on subsequent tasks. A tableoutliningthe proposed vs actual timeline of each deliverable is available in the full report submitted to the National Program Leader. The company made necessary unanticipated changes to the project budget. Most changes to the budget were less than 10% of the total award and therefore the written request was waived per the award terms and conditions. However, we requested a change in PD in Year 1, which was approved by NIFA. All other budget changes are found in the full report submitted to the National Program Leader. There were $2,465.2o of unspent funds for this project effort. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?All findings have been disseminated to communities of interest as proposed and described herein. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Major Goal 1: Interactive Data Dashboard • Completed in Year 2 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2023) Interactive Data Dashboard Atlantic created a series of public, web-based interactive data dashboards where users can explore all aspects of the projects data using the Microsoft Power BI Pro® platform as shown in Image 1 below. We chose this software because of the userfriendly capabilities, as well as the highest number of current Microsoft customers with access to it. This dashboard allows deep dives into the complete data archive and is currently being accessed and used by farmers, but also by federal and state departments of food and agriculture, farm-raised seafood advocacy and certification organizations, research scientists, and Extension professionals. All visualizations are filterable, through dropdown and checkbox menus or buttons, and interconnected so that a user can select a component in one visualization and all other graphics on that page will be filtered by that component's value. Visualizations include bar and line graphs, summary tables, and treemaps. The dashboard was embedded on Atlantic's website where it can be accessed here: https://www.atlanticcorporation.com/us-consumer-attitudes. This work was completed between March 1, 2023 and May 26, 2023. Major Goal 2: Interactive Spatial Visualization Application • Completed in Year 2 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2023) Spatial Visualization Tool Atlantic consulted with GIS analyst Alison Thieme to translate survey findings into a spatial database and used GIS analysis and zonal statistics to determine the average responses in each state. The spatial tool, Seafood Market Assessment and Planning System (SeafoodMAPS) is presented in an interactive web-based map using Leaflet. For each state and region, the size of the market opportunity for each species is represented through a color gradient, with associated research results, a list of the most marketable products, and the potential value of each opportunity shown in a pop-up window revealed by hovering the cursor over the state. The tool includes four-pages: 1) General Finings; 2) Insights; 3) About; and 4) User Guide, shown below (Image 2). The tool can be accessed on Atlantic's website: https://www.atlanticcorporation.com/us-consumer-attitudes. This work was completed between April 1, 2023 and July 19, 2023. Major Goal 3: Findings Report •Completed in Year 2 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2023) The descriptive statistics data report was completed (see "Other Products" section, under "Survey Instruments") Addtional Goal: Outreach and Extension of Findings • Completed in Year 2 and 3 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2024) Following rigorous testing and review committee approval, Atlantic released and distributed the data report and launched the data tools on its website where it is freely available to the public. Atlantic partnered with Ms. Meggan Dwyer at University of Maine's Aquaculture Research Initiative to design a 12-month outreach and extension program and began implementing the program in February 2023. The program included industry outreach, consulting on farmers networks, leading seminars and workshops, and presenting results at relevant aquaculture meetings. As part of outreach activities, Atlantic provided extensive support to aquaculture operators and other leading stakeholders from July 2023 through December 2023. Atlantic continued outreach in 2024 by consulting in small groups through arrangement with aquaculture associations and one-on-one to use the tool to help position the companies to demand-driven, as opposed to supply driven, business planning. Users of the tool are able to reach out to Atlantic for guidance. We evaluated the success of our outreach plan by tracking the following metrics: individuals reached via email; conference booth, presentation, and webinar attendance; and downloads of our final report. We forecasted an estimated reach of our stakeholders to range from 29,075 to 41,475 non-unique people. Our outreach and extension efforts resulted in a reach of 8,476 nonunique people. There is an unknown variance of an additional 10,000-20,000 people who may have seen our findings through the Extension Foundation, but that data is unable to be tracked by their organization. We conservatively estimate we reached at least 10,000 people to increase our actual reach to 18,476. Atlantic has reached thousands of aquaculture stakeholders across the country to communicate our findings regarding consumer attitudes and preferences about domestic farm-raised finfish and shellfish. We will continue outreach efforts past the grant period to reach additional stakeholders and will track the number of visits to the toolset and the number of downloads of our final reports.
Publications
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Progress 01/01/24 to 12/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for the project includes: Consumers of farmed aquaculture products Finish and Shellfish Farms and Value-added Producers Aquaculture stakeholders throughout the U.S. While the project is in response to Program Area 6: Agriculture economics and rural communities; Program Area Priority b: Economics, Markets and Trade, it supports four of the six priority areas in the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics report. For reporting period one (1/1/22 to 12/31/22) the target audiences reached were consumers offarmed aquaculture productsand the aquaculture stakeholders who participated in the survey design and review ofraw survey data. In reporting period two (1/1/23 to 12/31/23), the entire audience was reached through the delivery of our reports and interactive tools, as part of an extensive outreach and extension effort. In reporting period three(1/1/24to 12/31/24), the entire audience was reached againthrough the final completion of our outreach and extension plan (see full report for methodology and total reach). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results of the project were disseminated to communities of interest through Atlantic's outreach and extension plan in period of performance 2 and 3. To date outreach efforts include: Poster presentation at Aquaculture America in February 2023 in New Orleans, LA (reach of n=2,320) Targeted mailing campaign to U.S.finfish and shellfish farms and value-added producers in March 2023 (n=225) Presentation and forum at the Maine's Fishermen's Forum in March 2023 in Rockland, ME (n=2,000) Exhibitor at the American Fisheries Society Annual Conference in August 2023 in Grand Rapids, MI (n=1,344) Exhibitor at U.S. Seagriculture Annual Conference in September 2023 in Portland, ME (n=293) Exhibitor at Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon Conference in October 2023 in Baltimore, MD (n=110) Exhibitor at Northeast Aquaculture Conference and Expo in January 2024 in Providence, RI (n=870) Targeted mailing campaign #2 to U.S.finfish and shellfish farms and value-added producers in January2024(n=225) Poster presentation at Aquaculture America in February 2024 in San Antonio,TX (n=2,120) Exhibitor at Blue Innovation Symposium in February 2024 in Newport, RI (n=300) Poster presentation at International Conference on Shellfish in February 2024 in San Antonio, TX (n=2,000) Poster presentation at Maine Fishermen's Forum in March 2024 in Rockland, ME (n=2,000) Webinar for the Extension Foundation (live and digitally archived) in May 2024 (n=up to 32,000) Exhibitor at TECHSPO in June 2024 in Boston, MA (n=500) Poster presentation at Aquaculture Europe in August 2024 in Europe (n=2,000) Custom market research for various stakeholders between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final reporting period of the project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
All of theses goals were accomplished and reported in previous progress reports (1/1/2022 to 12/31/2023). The third period of performance was entirely focused on outreach and extension efforts and summarized in other sections below. A full description of the outreach and extension plan will beavailable in the final techanical report.
Publications
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Progress 01/01/23 to 12/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for the project includes: Consumers of farmed aquaculture products Finish and Shellfish Farms and Value-added Producers Aquaculture stakeholders throughout the U.S. While the project is in response to Program Area 6: Agriculture economics and rural communities; Program Area Priority b: Economics, Markets and Trade, it supports four of the six Priority areas in the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics' report. For reporting period one (1/1/22 to 12/31/22) thetarget audiences reached were: 1) Consumers of farmed aquaculture products; and 2)the aquaculture stakeholdesrs who particiapted on the survey design and review or raw survey data. In reporting period two (1/1/23 to 12/31/23), the entire audience was reached through the delivery of our reports and interactive tools, as part of an extensive outreach and extension effort. Changes/Problems:There were no major changes/problems in approach or execution for this period of performance. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development was not part of the projects scope of work or outreach and extension plan, however atraining opportunity is being developed in collaboration with the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center. This partnership will allow Atlanticto provide custom secondary market research for finfish, shellfish, and other aquatic value-added proucers in Maine. This program is launching in 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have started being disseminated to communities of interest through Atlantic'soutreach and extension plan outlined in the project's scope of work.To date outreach effortsinclude: Poster presentation at Aquaculture America in February 2023 in New Orleans, LA (estimated reach of n=4000) Targeted mailing campaign to U.S, finfish and shellfish farms and value-added producers in March 2023 (n=225) Presentation and forum at the Maine's Fishermen's Forum in March 2023 in Rockland, ME (n=1,000) Exhibitor at the American Fisheries Society Annual Conference in August 2023 in Grand Rapids, MI (n=4,000) Exhibitor at U.S. Seagriculture Annual Conference in September 2023 in Portland, ME (n=250) Exhibitor at Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon Conference in October 2023 in Baltimore, MD (n=80) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The final period of performance is focused soley on outreach and extension. Atlantic will continue to execute the plan identifed in the scope of work and full technincal report submitted to the Awards Management Division and Dr. Tuttle.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Interactive Data Dashboard Atlantic created a series of public, web-based interactive data dashboards where users can explore all aspects of the projects data using the Microsoft Power BI Pro® platform as shown in Image 1 below. We chose this software because of the user-friendly capabilities, as well as the highest number of current Microsoft customers with access to it. This dashboard allows deep dives into the complete data archive and is currently being accessed and used by farmers, but also by federal and state departments of food and agriculture, farm-raised seafood advocacy and certification organizations, research scientists, and Extension professionals. All visualizations are filterable, through dropdown and checkbox menus or buttons, and interconnected so that a user can select a component in one visualization and all other graphics on that page will be filtered by that component's value. Visualizations include bar and line graphs, summary tables, and treemaps. The dashboard was embedded on Atlantic's website where it can be accessed here: https://www.atlanticcorporation.com/us-consumer-attitudes. This work was completed between March 1, 2023 and May 26, 2023. Spatial Visualization Tool Atlantic consulted with GIS analyst Alison Thieme to translate survey findings into a spatial database and used GIS analysis and zonal statistics to determine the average responses in each state. The spatial tool, Seafood Market Assessment and Planning System (SeafoodMAPS) is presented in an interactive web-based map using Leaflet. For each state and region, the size of the market opportunity for each species is represented through a color gradient, with associated research results, a list of the most marketable products, and the potential value of each opportunity shown in a pop-up window revealed by hovering the cursor over the state. The tool includes four-pages: 1) General Finings; 2) Insights; 3) About; and 4) User Guide, shown below (Image 2). The tool can be accessed on Atlantic's website: https://www.atlanticcorporation.com/us-consumer-attitudes. This work was completed between April 1, 2023 and July 19, 2023.
Publications
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Progress 01/01/22 to 12/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience for the project includes: • Consumers of farmed aquaculture products • Finish and Shellfish Farms and Value-added Producers • Aquaculture stakeholders throughout the U.S. While the project isin response to Program Area 6: Agriculture economics and rural communities; Program Area Priority b: Economics, Markets and Trade, it supportsfour of the six Priority areas in the Council on Food, Agricultural & Resource Economics' report. For this reporting period the only target audience reached were the aquaculture stakeholdesrs who particiapted on the survey design and review or raw survey data. In the next reporting period, the entire audience will be reached through the delivery of our reports and interactive tools. Changes/Problems:Changes to the Scope of Work There were no changes to the scope of work. The original timeline was slightly altered due to a delay in collecting all 20,000 responses. The delay resulted in the economic modeling and findings report being completed by January 31, 2023 instead of December 31, 2022. There was a personnel change that required a change in PD. This was formally submitted to the USDA Awards Management Division on July 5, 2022 in a "PD Change Request" letter, later approved by the USDA Awards Management Division. Changes to the proposed budget regarding this switch are highlighted in the section below and detailed in the financial report and SF425. Changes to the Project Budget The company made necessary unanticipated changes to the project budget, specific to project personnel. A PD change was required and the process outlined in the award terms and conditions document was followed to complete the change. All other changes to the budget were less than 10% of the total award. The cumulative project total did not change only the categories identified in the bulleted list below (Year 1): The original PD, Melanie Spencer, was removed from the project (-$26,737.08) and the company named Co-PD, Randy Labbe, the PD. Key Personnel member, Ray Bernier's hours increased to support Randy Labbe in completing year 1 objectives (+26,737.08) The University of Maine's Aquaculture Research Institutes' subaward was moved from Year 1 to Year 2, as no significant outreach and extension support was required (-$11,317). Some other direct cost categories were not fully expended and moved to year 2: Travel (-$136.75) Publications (-$1,250) Total indirect expenses were decreased due to the change in ARI's subaward and non-expended funds in the other direct cost categories. (-1,219.56) While the company made necessary personnel changes, the project's timeline and performance were not delayed and there is no threat to project deliverables in year 2 or 3. The proposed year 1 budget was $301,880.05 and the actual amount expensed was $287,956.74. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In preparation for completing the major goals of the project, we will finalize the remaing Year 1 targets by January 31, 2023: Economic Modeling Dr. Zheng has built discrete choice models using statistical software that links the influencing factors to variables on consumers' consumption habits, perception, and attitudes toward farm-raised seafood to understand the effects of consumers' characteristics. Logistic regression models are being used to analyze the contingent valuation choice questions and estimate consumers' willingness to pay premiums for each food category. Given our major objective is to estimate consumers' marginal willingness to pay for the farm-raised and domestic attributes, we designed a choice experiment with three attributes including production method (farm-raised vs. wild-caught), country of origin (domestic vs. imported), and price (the levels will be determined based on observation of market prices). Currently, results are being analyzed so they can be be presented at aggregate and disaggregate levels by state. Based on the findings, we will draw implications on marketing strategies that potentially benefit small to mid-size fisheries in terms of entering or expanding business in a specific category to meet consumers' needs. This work started on December 15, 2022 and is expected to be completed by January 31, 2023 Data Report Atlantic has prepared an extensive data report describing the methodology and findings of the descriptive statistics (see Attachment A). The report, tentatively entitled "U.S. Consumer Attitudes and Preferences about Domestic Farm-Raised Finfish and Shellfish: Descriptive Statistics Report," will be circulated to the review committee, while economic modeling is being finished. When all data is final, the data report will be amended to include economic modeling, resulting in a comprehensive findings report. The current report will be available online and mailed to 300 key U.S. aquaculture stakeholders by January 31, 2022. Please see attachment A at the conclusion of this interim report for a copy of the data report. From there we will complete the remaining objectives as follows: Year 2: Findings Report Interactive Data Dashboard Spatial Visualization Tool Beta Testing Launch, Outreach, Extension (Phase I) Year 3: Outreach and Extension (Phase II) Outreach/Extension Impact Assessment
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Major Goal 1: Interactive Data Dashboard Completed in Year 2 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2023) Major Goal 2: Interactive Spatial Visualization Application Completed in Year 2 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2023) Major Goal 3: Findings Report The descriptive statistics data report was completed (see "Other Products" section) The findings report will be completed in Year 2 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2023) Addtional Goal: Outreach and Extension of Findings Completed in Year 2 and 3 (1/1/2023 to 12/31/2024)
Publications
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