What types of seafood products should you buy? Are farm-raised seafood products safe to eat? How does aquaculture impact our economy and environment? Florida Sea Grant’s Aquaculture Marketing & Communications Specialist, Emily Riewestahl, is here to clear up some murky misconceptions and uncertainties surrounding aquaculture.
Emily holding Blue Crab in Fort Walton Beach, FL.
In her role, Emily will develop marketing and communication strategies to boost public awareness of aquaculture products, their sources, uses, and benefits across the U.S. Southeast. She will lead education campaigns through the Southeast Aquaculture Communications Collaborative (SACC), which includes the National Sea Grant Law Center and Sea Grant programs in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina.
This position is part of a broader initiative by the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) to address communication and literacy needs that support the aquaculture community, seafood consumers, and the general public. Florida Sea Grant received $749,884 to support this Southeast collaboration, which includes Emily’s vital work.
“As the domestic demand for seafood increases, we have an opportunity to support growth in our domestic industry, especially as fish and seafood provide an efficient source of protein that is needed worldwide,” says Dr. Sherry Larkin, Director of Florida Sea Grant. “This project represents an opportunity to consolidate, educate, and highlight the breadth of societal, ecological, and economic benefits from local aquaculture and dispel misinformation and perceptions that can adversely affect the development of a thriving domestic industry.”
The necessity for a regional collaboration is driven largely by the expansive coastline and increasing population of the Southeastern U.S., characterized by a prominent aquaculture industry. The Southeast ranges in diverse aquaculture products including shellfish, finfish, ornamentals, bait and feed, sponges, algae, alligators, turtles, and restoration species including coral and seagrass. While Sea Grant Programs in the region have developed a wealth of information on aquaculture production in their respective state, there are no curated inventories of available resources, nor coordinated efforts to merge materials across the region.
To facilitate greater information exchange between state extension agents, researchers, and stakeholders, Emily will be tasked with building a website that will house aquaculture information and tools, and develop an interactive online education module. The project also includes working with the National Sea Grant Law Center to create a dashboard that summarizes local land use restrictions. To ensure target audiences are reached, products will be translated into languages of regional importance.
“As the new Aquaculture Marketing and Communication Specialist for the U.S. Southeast region, I am excited to work collaboratively with experts, producers, and the public to help people learn about aquaculture and discover ways they can support the ocean economy,” says Emily. “While I begin this position, I envision bringing my expertise in community-based humanities programming and digital outreach to help people see how aquaculture connects us all and calls us to take action.”
This project represents an opportunity to consolidate, educate, and highlight the breadth of societal, ecological, and economic benefits from local aquaculture and dispel misinformation and perceptions that can adversely affect the development of a thriving domestic industry.
Emily holding a trout she fished near a stream in Spring Valley, WI.
Emily’s background in community engagement and mixed-methods research, coupled with her cultural humility, offers a unique and impactful approach to aquaculture education. She served as project coordinator for the award-winning Wisconsin Humanities Community Powered Program, which partnered returning graduates with their local libraries to co-create programs that build community resilience.
In addition to her community-engaged work, Emily has authored numerous scholarly articles on the topics of media literacy, media representation, and trauma-informed approaches. Emily holds an M.A. in Communication from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana.
While Emily does not have a background in aquaculture, her novel experiences in the field and appetite for fresh and locally sourced seafood on her plate will inspire educational materials that resonate with other consumers like herself.
“Growing up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, I never really had to think about where the fish on my plate came from because it was almost always a fish that we caught in a nearby lake or river,” she says. “When I moved to the Gulf South for college, I encountered so many types of seafood – crawfish, oysters, blue crab, royal reds. At restaurants and the grocery store I began to wonder: Is it local? Has it been frozen? That is why this collaboration is important – it will bring experts together to develop campaigns to help consumers make more informed decisions.”
Over the next year, Emily will participate in the upcoming Sea Grant Aquaculture Academy, to further her professional development in interdisciplinary knowledge, skills, and networks needed by Sea Grant aquaculture staff. She will also attend Aquaculture 2025, the world’s largest aquaculture conference and tradeshow, to learn from global experts and network with SACC partners.
