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;

Name	Business/Organization	Island	Member Since
David Cohen	Aquatic Innovations	Honolulu, Oahu	2004
John Corbin	Aquaculture Planning & Advocacy	Kaneohe, Oahu	2009
Miguel A. Delos Santos	CyanTech Solutions	Koror, Palau	2022
Suzi Dominy	Aquafeed.com	Kailua, Oahu	2015
Linda Gusman	Island Aquaculture	Kaneohe, Oahu	1993
Masahiro Ito	Aquaculture Consultant	Pacific Islands	2015
David Kawahigashi	Vannamei 101	Rawai, Phuket	2009
Brian Leonida	BnB Nursery	Waianae, Oahu	2015
Jennica Lowell-Hawkins	Ocean Era, Inc	Kailua-Kona, Hawaii	2009
Anthony Mau	Kupu Place LLC, Kualoa Ranch	Honolulu, Oahu	2021
Fred Mencher	Hawaii Fish Co.	Honolulu, Oahu	2015
Ryan Murashige	Aquaculture Technologies of the Marshall Islands Inc.	Marshall Islands	2010
Michael Ogo	Northern Marianas College CREES	CNMI	2015
Federico Rotman	Blue Ocean Mariculture	Kailua_kona, Hawaii	2022
Benny Paulino San Nicolas	Guam Department of Education, Retired Teacher	Guam	2020
Ron Weidenbach	Hawaii Fish Company	Waialua, Oahu	1992
Richard Xie	Hawaiian Sea Life, Inc.	Honolulu, Oahu	2009