NY Sea Grant is hosting Seafood and Aquaculture Office hours with various NY State Agencies involved in the regulation of aquaculture and seafood. 

Office hours will be held virtual and are free to participants, but registration is required. You can include questions you have for any of the agencies participating when registering.

• Thursday, January 22, 2026 | 2–3 pm — Register
Topic: Mitigating Bird Interactions: Updates for New York Oyster Growers Using Floating Gear

• You can view previous webinars in the series in the "Recordings" section below.

Purpose

To enhance and facilitate active communication among academic, agency, and industry professionals related to aquatic foods and aquatic foods regulation and safety. Aquatic foods include all farmed and wild-caught finfish, shellfish, and seaweed.

Goals

1. Create a platform for regular interaction and communication among industry, agency, and academics who play a role in aquatic food safety. 

2. Provide an opportunity for industry to engage with experts annually to address issues or challenges they face related to the processing and marketing of aquatic foods. 

 
Recordings

NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets (October 2025) — Video Recording



In this session, two divisions from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets shared updates on seafood-related initiatives. We introduced the new Seafood Coordinator from the Division of Agricultural Development and dove into key seafood inspection topics with the Division of Food Safety, including: 

— Common sanitation issues and practical solutions
— How to use the new seafood-specific regulatory compliance forms
— A review of the new Raw Seafood Safety Factor Sheet

Foodborne Illness Surveillance in New York (July 2025) — Video Recording



Food Safety & Seafood HACCP (April 2025) — Video Recording



In this session, which was in partnership with the Cornell Institute for Food Safety Virtual Office Hours, NYSG's Seafood Specialist Michael Ciaramella provided an overview of Seafood HACCP, what it is and to whom it applies. Ciaramella also highlighted the process of conducting a hazard analysis and its importance. This was followed by updates on guidance for histamine in seafood products from the FDA, with food inspector Eugene Evans, and its potential impact on the industry.

Meet Your Partners (January 2025) — Video Recording 



In this session, the first in NYSG's "Seafood and Aquaculture Office hours" series, NYSG's Seafood Specialist Michael Ciaramella hosts talks from various NY State Agencies involved in the regulation of aquaculture and seafood.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.