We worked with Maine shellfish and seaweed producers, predominately those in their first 3 years of operation, to equip them with the tools and resources to begin strategically planning their business and managing their risks.
We hosted a webinar in November of 2020 to provide an overview of aquaculture business planning and risk management. Following the webinar, we met individually with 37 producers on Zoom, using Maine aquaculture-specific risk management and business planning tools, and a suite of COVID-19 resources developed for this project, to discuss each farmer's history, status, and goals, and set a strategy for the future of their farm. This process included adjusting each farm's business and production plan to farm-level specifics, and working with growers to establish their recordkeeping practices and risk management strategies.