Groton – Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, will meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday with representatives of Connecticut Sea Grant and the Noank Aquaculture Co-Operative to learn about one of the programs supported by Sea Grant, which is threatened with elimination under President Trump’s budget proposal.

Courtney will meet with Sylvain De Guise, the director of the Connecticut Sea Grant, located at the Avery Point campus of the University of Connecticut, and members of the co-op. The co-op is community-owned and operated and focuses on the cultivation of seed oysters and other shellfish. Sea Grant has provided research and support to the co-op, according to a news release from Courtney’s office. Elimination of the Sea Grant program would have a negative impact on the local economy, the news release said.

Nationally, Sea Grant contributed to creating and sustaining 20,770 jobs and 2,903 businesses, according to 2016 performance metrics of the program, the news release said. On top of business and job creation, Sea Grant also logged 265,602 volunteer hours in 2016. The program contributed to $575 million in economic impact, nearly half of the nation’s $1.2 billion aquaculture economy, according to the news release.

Earlier this month, Courtney and Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., led a bipartisan effort with a letter signed by nearly 100 members of the House of Representatives calling for sustained funding for Sea Grant in 2018. The letter called on the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to continue their support for the National Sea Grant College Program. The members highlighted the Sea Grant program’s role in cultivating our nation’s aquaculture economy.

“With imported seafood making up 90 percent of American seafood consumption, our nation should be focusing on programs to expand and improve our domestic aquaculture industry,” the letter said. “Sea Grant is a program that does just that — helping fishermen and shellfish farmers navigate a complex patchwork of state and federal coastal zone management regulations through technical assistance. Sea Grant works with local producers to grow and sustain their business models while connecting them to local resources to share best practices.”