OXFORD, Miss – The National Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law in collaboration with researchers at Florida State University have developed an online dashboard of state policy data for U.S. marine aquaculture with funding received from The Builder’s Initiative.
The State Marine Aquaculture Policy Dashboard increases the accessibility and usability of marine aquaculture policy data, enabling policymakers, industry managers, farmers, and researchers to navigate U.S. marine aquaculture policies with confidence and ease.
The dashboard offers interactive and visual representations of almost 30 marine aquaculture policy attributes collected for all 23 coastal states. Users can use dynamic filters to look at multiple policy attributes across all states, take a deep dive into specific categories of aquaculture policies, or learn about a specific state’s policies. Users can also access the underlying database used in the dashboard.
The dashboard is an important tool to increase knowledge of and access to states’ marine aquaculture policies and legislation, provide greater transparency to the regulatory landscape, reduce barriers to participating in the industry, and provide a holistic overview of the process of starting and operating a farm to both farmers and managers. Stephanie Otts, project co-lead and Director of the Sea Grant Law Center, noted that the dashboard could be a valuable platform for information exchange.
“We anticipate that this tool will improve knowledge sharing across states and among regulators, researchers, and farmers, which is important for supporting the sustainable development of the marine aquaculture industry in the U.S.,” said Otts.
Sarah Lester, Associate Professor of Biological Science at Florida State University who co-led the development of the dashboard, said the project was motivated by the complexity of the policy landscape influencing marine aquaculture development in the United States.
“Most marine aquaculture is located in state waters, and each coastal state has different laws and regulations guiding aquaculture,” said Lester. “We wanted to create a standardized, one-stop shop for state level policy information.”
The dashboard is live and available to the public. Visit the Dashboard, explore the data, and learn more about state marine aquaculture policy in the United States.
Contact information:
For general questions about the project, please reach out to Stephanie Otts at sshowalt@olemiss.edu.
For questions about the policy attributes and associated data, please reach out to Sarah Lester at slester@fsu.edu.