Through “Science Serving Florida’s Coast” Florida Sea Grant responds to the forces of change to help Florida provide economic leadership, sustain the quality of its coastal and marine ecosystems, and develop its human resources in order to create a sustainable economy and environment.
The pressures, wants, needs and dollars represented by the huge number of people who use Florida’s coastal resources all combine to make understanding and managing one of the most fragile environments on earth a difficult and often controversial undertaking. Florida Sea Grant has a vital role to fill in this complex endeavor. Through Sea Grant research efforts, the transfer of information via the Sea Grant Extension Program, and the outreach provided by Sea Grant communication and education efforts, Floridians and tourists can better understand the state’s unique environment and what they can do to become more effective stewards. Sea Grant programming is intended to help meet the critical challenge to rationally manage continued growth in the coastal zone and equitably address the ever increasing demand and competition for coastal resources. Florida Sea Grant has assumed a leadership role in the creation of a better informed public that recognizes the need for actions to ensure that Florida continues to be of the nation’s best places to live.
The forces of change and their impacts to our coasts and economies compel Florida Sea Grant to:
- strengthen its position as Florida’s primary state-wide university research, education and extension program in support of coastal use and sustainable management.
- assume a leadership role in helping Florida address critical issues including the responsible management and protection of coastal ecosystems, the preservation of public access to ocean and coastal waters, the protection of seafood availability and safety, development of sustainable and hazard-resilient coastal communities and economies, and the widespread understanding of climate-related changes and necessary societal adaptations.
- provide a federal-state-local network that integrates research, education and extension to create practical solutions to real problems that strengthen Florida’s capacity to deal with the most critical coastal and marine issues.
- increase the coordination of resources brought to bear on coastal issues over the next decade through strategic partnerships of Florida Sea Grant with agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector.
Programmatic Focus Areas
Florida Sea Grant will direct its resources in four focus areas in order to address the most critical issues affecting Florida’s coastal environment and economies, and to align with National Sea Grant strategic planning initiatives. Strategies identified within the four focus areas address goals that were determined to be most important by Florida’s faculty, its government agencies, its industries and its citizens.
 Focus Area No. 1: Healthy Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
Focus Area No. 2: Sustainable and Hazard-Resilient Communities
Focus Area No. 3: Seafood Production and Safety
Focus Area No. 4: Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptations
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