Welcome to the Office of Aquaculture's April newsletter!  We're just emerging from a mild, but long winter here in the nation's capital, and all are looking forward to spring.

We've been doing everything but hibernating over the winter, as we move forward on a number of science and policy efforts to enable sustainable marine aquaculture in the U.S.  As always, our partners are one of our most valuable resources.

We continue to work with stakeholders to implement the National Shellfish Initiative and Technology Transfer Initiative that emerged from the 2011 national aquaculture policies.  And, knowing the importance of access to sites for growing responsible marine aquaculture here in the United States, we have been coordinating with partners through a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the regulatory process is both comprehensive and efficient.

In the past couple of months, we had the pleasure of presenting symposia at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting as well as the World Aquaculture Society's 'Aquaculture America' conference.

Read about all of this and more in this month's Director's Corner!