The inaugural 12-week course, \u201cBeyond the Basics for Businesses and Practitioners,\u201d was free for participants thanks to grant funding awarded to Rhode Island Sea Grant<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Located at URI\u2019s Graduate School of Oceanography<\/a>, Rhode Island Sea Grant supports research, outreach, environmental literacy, and workforce development programs that foster the resilience of local and regional communities and marine environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Course instructors Azure Cygler<\/a> and Rob Hudson<\/a> led participants through a range of topics including Aquaculture Business 201: Economics of Shellfish Farming, Staying Healthy in Aquaculture, Women and Minorities in Aquaculture, Keeping the Peace in Aquaculture, Effective Communication in Aquaculture, and Aquaculture Beyond Oysters \u2013 21st Century Farming Principles and Practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cygler is a coastal research associate, and Hudson is a marine research associate. Both are fisheries and aquaculture extension specialists for the Coastal Resources Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant, with extensive practical experience in aquaculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The course was conducted at URI\u2019s Coastal Institute on the Narragansett Bay Campus and online. The online option attracted participants from 15 coastal states and 10 countries, including Australia and Scotland. In total, 65 people registered for the course, with each having a unique motivation for participating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe enthusiasm surrounding the launch of this course surpassed expectations both locally and globally,\u201d said Hudson. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to build upon this momentum\u2014supporting our inaugural cohort in their future aquaculture endeavors and continuing to grow the program with next year\u2019s incoming cohort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Participant Travis Beckman, who is interested in working on an oyster or kelp farm or perhaps owning his own farm, enrolled in the course to learn about different career paths and to network with farmers and experts from Rhode Island and southern New England. However, he also had more personal reasons for taking the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShellfish aquaculture and other regenerative aquaculture practices, such as kelp farming, are critical to conserving and restoring the ocean,\u201d said Beckman, who hails from Pawtucket. \u201cWe need resilient coastal resources for protecting biodiversity, recreation, and robust food systems. The ocean is a sacred place for me, and this course is a key early step for me to get more involved in the stewardship of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kip Foley, a North Kingstown entrepreneur, was drawn to the course for potential business opportunities. \u201cI learned that although oyster farming is a mature industry with relatively tight profit margins, there are lots of opportunities to add value through innovation. In fact, innovation is likely the key to being a successful business in the industry in the very near future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Money didn\u2019t factor into Victoria Lundin\u2019s decision to take the course\u2014in fact, she is using it as a way to give back. The retired senior pursues oyster gardening as a hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I was 30 years younger, I would definitely start my own business,\u201d said Lundin, who resides in East Hampton, N.Y. \u201cHowever, I will share my new knowledge with groups of children and adults who tour my garden and shellfish hatchery. Instead of a payment to me, these groups make a monetary donation to various community organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lundin also said that the open sharing of information enabled her to learn new gardening techniques. \u201cOur environment is constantly changing. It\u2019s important to listen to how others tackle a problem,\u201d she said. \u201cI met so many passionate gardeners from the East and West Coasts. Also, each guest speaker opened my eyes to new opportunities and experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Course participants represent diverse backgrounds, but common interest in aquaculture April 17, 2025 The University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center\u2019s new spring course tailored to those with basic ocean farming knowledge wanting to learn about the business practices of aquaculture drew interest from around the globe. The inaugural 12-week course, \u201cBeyond the Basics for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4762,"featured_media":189320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[2039],"class_list":["post-189317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-economy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189322,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189317\/revisions\/189322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/916\/1-29.jpg\")