Massachusetts Letter to Congress in Support of Sea Grant

Dear Massachusetts congressional delegation: We, the undersigned constituents from Massachusetts, are writing to urge your support for federal funding for the Sea Grant Program in fiscal year (FY) 2026. Sea Grant is funded in the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill and is in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Operations, Research, and Facilities (ORF) Account within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). As one of the 34 Sea Grant programs, each year Massachusetts receives a portion of the annual appropriation to Sea Grant. The MIT Sea Grant Program partners with local, state, regional, and national organizations to meet the legally required match of $1 dollar for every $2 federal dollars, which increases the impact of every federal dollar. At MIT Sea Grant, we work hard to exceed that, matching 61% for every federal dollar. We benefit from this, as this money is invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in the state. This includes workforce development and professional training programs in support of fisheries and aquaculture industries; advanced technology development to enhance commercial fishing, aquaculture, and maritime industry sectors; seafood product and market development and job creation programs; education programs engaging hundreds of students annually; education and training programs that enable local communities to better manage their coastal and ocean resources; and by providing funding opportunities and fellowship programs that support the Massachusetts research community and smaller local community organizations, and provide professional training for graduate level students. Examples include: Alternative Seafood Products and Markets: Small Boats, Big Taste Key Impacts + Metrics: Injected $2,297,184 into the local economy in support of local seafood industry and communities Provided over 2 million servings to northeast food banks and pantries Retained 38 businesses Supported 40 fishermen, 225 seafood supply workers Develop business strategy and community outreach for program sustainability Created a retail product line and markets for underutilized commercial species Machine Learning for Fisheries and Aquaculture Key Impacts + Metrics: Developed systems to automate fisheries monitoring and population assessments Developed systems to automate and improve aquaculture production processes providing increased efficiency, accuracy, and product output Supported over twenty students in AI training and education programs Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Outfall Monitoring Science Advisory Panel Key Impacts + Metrics: $50k reduction in monitoring costs, passed onto Massachusetts ratepayers Floating Wetland Kits and Curriculum Key Impacts + Metrics: Students learn about the societal benefits of local riverine and wetland systems Provides education and training in environmental monitoring and data analysis The kits and lessons are integrated into the Cambridge Public Schools 6th grade curriculum The program continues to engage 600+ students and 30 educators each year MIT Sea Grant Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) Lab Ocean Engineering Key Impacts + Metrics: MOOS Autonomous Navigation Systems Development Autonomous sailing and ocean sensing vessel development Creation of the autonomous RoboWhaler vessel for Mercury Marine Creation of an open source public Marine Perception Dataset website Development of sensor-based autonomy technology for Lockheed Martin focusing on multi-vessel heterogeneous swarming autonomy Development of SeaTrains Autonomous Convoys for the DARPA program Development of Advanced Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) Maneuvering Operations Systems for SSCI Corp Development of SeeByte Multi-Architecture Autonomy Framework for the Office of Naval Research Development of the C-Ray undulating AUV for Pliant Corp Development of the Morpheus, Perseus, and Sea Beaver AUVs for Lockheed Martin MIT Sea Grant Design Lab Engineering Key Impacts + Metrics: Ships and Ship Systems - Design, Modeling and Simulation Early-stage Ship Design Software Development Hydrodynamics, Maneuvering, Resistance Ship System Design: Function, Arrangement Developed easy-to-use computer software to provide ship owners a way to assess the impact of various fuel-saving technologies on a specific cargo ship's fuel consumption 2018-2023 supported 12 Graduate Theses, 3 Undergraduate Theses, 15 Undergraduate Research Opportunities, 1 High School Student Research Project The MIT Sea Grant “Intelligent Towing Tank” is the first experimental facility to conduct experimental fluid mechanics autonomously, driven by Artificial Intelligence MIT Sea Grant Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Key Impacts + Metrics: Approximately 300 students supported 2018-2023 Provided professional training and education in engineering, electronics, computer science, AI, and ocean sciences Municipal and Community Shellfish Programs Key Impacts + Metrics: Provided a mini-grant program for Massachusetts municipalities and shellfish industry Funded 9 Towns, 60 Growers and approximately 5,000 Recreational Harvesters 4.8M Shellfish Propagated $134,316 in Economic Benefits for Towns Contributions to local food pantries Increase support for local shellfish propagation programs Nantucket Water Quality Monitoring Program Data Visualization and Analysis System Key Impacts + Metrics Positive economic feedback through reduced employee hours required and reduced error in data reporting. Reduced time required for critical tasks by 87%, from 240 hours to 30 hours, resulting in $6K savings annually. The public interface has been used in town meetings by Natural Resources Department administrators, and general use by the public MITSG Staff Metrics 2018-2023 Key Impacts + Metrics 48 products that were used to advance environmental literacy and workforce development or improve ecosystem-based management 89 products were developed $7,672,961 in economic benefits 46 publications Over $7 million in leverage funding MIT Sea Grant funded 28 projects from core-funding equaling $7.9 M Staff maintain professional relationships and consultations with industry, state and federal agencies, academic researchers, and community leaders MIT Sea Grant has been serving Massachusetts constituents for almost 60 years, with its first funding from the National Sea Grant Program received 1968. MIT’s vision of novel technology applied for the benefit of mankind is clearly aligned with Sea Grant’s vision of coastal and marine research and application for society’s benefit. As constituents and beneficiaries of Massachusetts’ Sea Grant Program, we cannot overstate the value Sea Grant brings to our state. In addition, coastal communities around the country are protected and supported thanks to the Sea Grant national network’s important activities around resilient communities and economies, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, healthy coastal ecosystems, environmental literacy, and workforce development. I respectfully request that you support funding the Sea Grant Program in FY 2026 appropriations. Thank you for your consideration, and please reach out if we can be of further assistance. Respectfully,