That’s a Wrap on National Seafood Month!

Every October, National Seafood Month celebrates the environmental sustainability and economic importance of the U.S. seafood industry. 

This year, USC Sea Grant joined in the celebration by partnering with Associate Professor Scott Applebaum’s Aquaculture and Food Security class in the USC Environmental Studies Program. Together, we developed a #NationalSeafoodMonth social media campaign designed to educate the public about California’s vibrant, sustainable seafood industry—while giving students meaningful, real-world experience in science communication.

“Producing public-facing communications with the potential to influence environmental awareness and sustainability fosters a genuine, vested interest by students that’s hard to achieve through other course assignments,” said Professor Applebaum. “I consistently observe the best student outcomes from courses when I can engage them in experiential learning projects. This project captures all those elements.”

A student echoed that “the assignment to create a social media post was definitely a fun and creative way to get us to interact with Sea Grant as well as our class content….It gave me more of a hands-on connection with the species we talk about in class and a point of understanding external to class instruction and readings.”

Students in Applebaum’s class were tasked with researching key topics within California’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors and then distilling these complex concepts into engaging, accurate, and accessible social media content. Their posts highlighted areas such as commercial and restoration aquaculture, seafood safety, common aquaculture myths, and the working commercial fisheries of Los Angeles.

The process began with a guest lecture on the history of commercial fishing and aquaculture in Southern California by Adjunct Assistant Professor and USC Sea Grant Extension Program Leader Amalia Almada. Student teams then selected topics of interest, led independent research, and were mentored by USC Sea Grant extension and communication staff to translate their findings into visually compelling posts for social media. 

One student reflected, “This project showed me how social media can simplify complex sustainability issues without losing scientific accuracy. I already knew aquaculture was a sustainable seafood source, but this deepened my understanding of species-specific methods and how storytelling connects science to consumers.”

The collaboration was part of USC Sea Grant’s broader mission to enhance understanding, conservation, and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources through research, education, and community engagement. As one of 34 Sea Grant programs nationwide, USC Sea Grant serves California with a specific focus on solving the unique issues arising out of managing people and natural resources in intensely urban and developed coastlines. USC Sea Grant’s seafood program supports consumer education about healthy and sustainable seafood choices as well as research efforts to foster a responsible and innovative California seafood industry.

As National Seafood Month wraps up, USC Sea Grant encourages everyone to celebrate by making sustainable seafood choices year-round. Whether it’s supporting the California seafood industry or simply asking where your seafood comes from, small actions can make a big difference for your health and the health of our ocean.

Check out @uscseagrant on Instagram and Facebook to explore the students’ creative #NationalSeafoodMonth posts and join the conversation about California’s vibrant, sustainable seafood industry!