In 1966, the United States Congress established the National Sea Grant College Program. The program is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The term “Sea Grant” was selected to underscore the similarity between this new program, focused on national coastal and marine resources, and the Land Grant program created more than a century earlier to develop agricultural resources.

Sea Grant programs provide important research which helps lawmakers manage state and federal fisheries.

State Sea Grant Programs

Alaska

Connecticut

California

Southern California

Delaware

Florida

Illinois – Indiana

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Minnesota

Mississipppi – Alabama

Massachusetts – Woods Hole and MIT

New Jersey

New Hampshire

New York

North Carolina

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Texas

Virginia

Vermont – Lake Champlain Sea Grant 

Washington

Puerto Rico

Regional Sea Grant Programs

Northeast – includes Sea Grant programs in Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Northeast

Mid Atlantic

South Atlantic

Great Lakes

Regional and state programs are part of the National Sea Grant College Program.

Related Information

Commercial Fisheries