Resources Database

Discusses what marketing is and why it is important including developing a marketing plan, market outlets, and personalizing the products and the business.

Summarizes common and important mistakes that new growers will make when first starting.

Coastal Enterprises, Inc. provides loans to aquaculturists. If you are seeking to grow your aquaculture operation but have had difficulty getting a loan from a commercial lender, CEI is here to help.

The spreadsheet provides estimates of cost and returns for bottom culture of spat on shell oysters in Maryland. Being able to accurately determine cost and return in business allows you to plan to maximize potential profit and determine expenses, cash flow, and other important aspects of management. This spreadsheet will give you the opportunity to do “what if” scenarios when planning your business.

Overview of mussel farming systems, mussel spat collection, seed stripping and stocking, problems occasionally encountered, processing, packaging and shipping, site selection, and planning a business.

General budget guidelines for growers marketing 250,000 - 1,000,000 oyster per year.

List of Grants and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) on the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) website. These include opportunities in Coastal Access & Working Waterfronts, Coastal Community Planning, and Outreach & Education.

A guide on what is soft-shell clam farming, how to start your own farm, and quick overview of the financials of clam farming.

Careful financial management is essential for the success of an aquaculture business. While financial management is a complex topic that can be approached from many perspectives, there are some key questions that the manager of an aquaculture business must answer affirmatively to be successful. Determining the answers requires careful, thorough, and comprehensive analysis. This publication, written by Dr. Carole Engle, a specialist in aquaculture economics, outlines the types of analyses and financial statements required to answer these critical questions.

Cash flow problems are one of the most common types of financial problems in aquaculture businesses. This publication, written by Dr. Carole Engle, a specialist in aquaculture economics, addresses the question of whether the business can generate enough cash when needed to pay its bills (liquidity). Liquidity is a fairly broad concept, and a number of financial indicators can be used to measure it. Of these, the cash flow statement is the most useful means of monitoring the liquidity of a business.

After purchasing used shellfish production equipment, it is strongly recommended to thoroughly clean and disinfect the gear prior to use to limit the risk of introducing disease or invasive species. An easy-to-use process is as follows:

The comprehensive financial analysis of aquaculture businesses requires that three key aspects of financial management be evaluated: financial position, profitability, and liquidity/cash flow position. Profitability is the difference between total revenue and total cost. It must be analyzed separately from financial position and liquidity/cash flow. This publication written by Dr. Carole Engle, a specialist in aquaculture economics, discusses profitability as measured from income statements and enterprise budgets.

In depth document created to provide the information and a framework that will enable a shellfish farmer to write a comprehensive Best Management Practices document focusing on gear/operation and maintenance, user conflicts, permitting/siting, and environmental concerns.

Matt Parker, aquaculture business specialist, presents basic business concepts such as writing a business plan, developing pro forma statements, costs associated production, and record keeping to determine the costs of production.

An ID guide to organisms commonly found in, on, and around oyster grow bags ​and other aquaculture equipment used in the Gulf of Maine and North Atlantic.

Facilitating economic growth for Maine's farmed shellfish businesses. This project has produced two data-driven, quantitative market assessments to inform industry leaders and business owners about the potential scale and scope of markets for farmed shellfish and to facilitate strategic growth in the industry. The most recent report was completed in 2023 and published in 2024.

A list of current aquaculture training programs offered in Maine.

In September 2023 the ECSGA updated its 2010 Best Management Practices manual. Building on the 2010 version, this update adds a new section on the management and handling of floating gear, hundreds of embedded links, info on new gear types and a revised bibliography. ECSGA also completely revamped the tool to create your own farm-specific Best Practices document: the Best Practices Form.

The UMaine Aquaculture Research Insitute has created a Research Portal in which you can look up aquaculture research happening in Maine by focus area, PI, funding source, timeline or keyword.

The Maine Aquaculture Financing Resources Manual, developed by MAA Project Manager Christian Brayden with support from FocusMaine, is an in-depth summary of all known financing resources available to Maine aquaculture producers.

University of Maryland Extension, Maryland Sea Grant, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Chesapeake Oyster Alliance are proud partners for “Seed to $$$” - a program for those in aquaculture to learn to manage their businesses for more profit. The US has experienced rapid economic growth in the last few years. This was due to increased spending designed to stimulate the economy in the wake of the pandemic. Recordings of the 8 presentations from the Seed to $$$ meeting are now available for viewing.

Free online entry-level oyster farm worker Certificate course. Do all 16 modules to pursue farmhand certification, or simply watch and browse to get a better sense of the industry. Instructors include East Coast Shellfish Growers Association's Dr. Bob Rheault, and amazing farmers Matt Behan, John and Cindy West, and David Roebuck.