About the Industry Advisory Council (IAC), CTSA, Hawaii

A principal characteristic of the Regional Aquaculture Centers (RAC) is that it is guided by industry concerns and after consultation with appropriate technical experts, responds with a program of directed research that targets priorities established by members of the industry. To assure that this focus on industry needs is maintained, CTSA’s charter specifies creation of an IAC to provide an open forum through which those involved in the business of aquaculture can provide comments, suggestions and advice. With the approval of the Board of Directors, the contributions of the IAC can be incorporated into annual and ongoing plans for CTSA.

The IAC:

reports the status and needs of aquaculture development in their represented region or field of interest and expertise;
recommends and ranks, according to perceived importance to industry expansion, research and development needs each year;
reviews pre-proposals to determine if they address the appropriate problem;
annually elects a chair from its eligible membership to conduct the annual IAC meeting and present recommendations regarding proposals to the Board based on reviewers’ comments. The chair shall serve as a voting member on the Board of Directors;
assigns members to serve as industry liaisons for each project. Liaisons will monitor progress through quarterly project updates and other reports from the projects’ principal investigators (PIs). Liaisons will collaborate with project PIs to report on the progress of projects at the annual meeting;