Connecticut Sea Grant, supported by a $766,650 federal grant, will lead a three-year, multistate initiative to help the fledgling domestic kelp industry.

The initiative targets nine states where “nascent seaweed aquaculture businesses are being impeded from further growth by the absence of comprehensive financial and management information resources,” CT Sea Grant said in a news release.

Through the project, economic analysis and business plans will be created for use by different types of kelp farms, as well as investors and lenders.

“The anticipated outcomes of this project include more access to capital, more informed business decisions by farmers, investors and lenders, increased employment, greater success of business and environmental improvements,” project leader Robert Pomeroy, University of Connecticut professor emeritus, extension specialist and marine resource economist at Connecticut Sea Grant, said in a statement.

Pomeroy will work with experts and colleagues in Sea Grant and university extension programs in New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Alaska, Washington, California, New York and Massachusetts.

The grant funds will pay mainly for staff time to research and analyze information on existing farms and markets, as well as varying regulatory and environmental conditions in different states.

More than 95% of the seaweed consumed in the U.S. is grown overseas. According to current estimates, about 1 million pounds of seaweed is harvested from U.S. waters, with forecasts that the market could expand to 4 million pounds annually by 2035. In Connecticut, there are currently 15 permitted kelp growing sites, with four of those growing product.