Sea Grant Holds at $94 Million After Congress Blocks Proposed Coastal Cuts

The NOAA Sea Grant College Program will receive $80 million in the FY2026 appropriations bill, with an additional $14 million for aquaculture programs — matching FY2024 levels and rejecting proposed cuts that would have slashed EPA and coastal management budgets by more than half.

What Congress Preserved

The final appropriations package maintained level funding for NOAA Coastal Zone Management, the Sea Grant College Program, Coastal Management Grants, and National Marine Sanctuaries. It rejected provisions mandating offshore drilling and preserved the EPA at $8.82 billion — a 3.5% reduction from FY2025 but far above the administration's proposal to cut the agency by more than half.

NOAA's total budget holds at approximately $6.1 billion, including $1.46 billion for the National Weather Service, $224 million for climate research, and continued support for weather and climate satellite programs.

Regional Competitions Already Open

Sea Grant programs are already deploying the stable funding through regional competitions. Maine Sea Grant announced $2 million in American Lobster Initiative funding from NOAA, including $1.4 million for new research and outreach and $600,000 in second-year funding for four ongoing projects studying lobster biology, population dynamics, and socioeconomic management. New York Sea Grant has $200,000 available for ecosystem-based management projects in the Great Lakes basin.

The $1.59 Billion Multiplier

The economic case for Sea Grant remains strong: Alaska Sea Grant data shows that the $94 million invested in FY2024 generated $1.59 billion in economic impact across coastal communities. Maine's lobster fishery alone is valued at $715 million annually, and Sea Grant-funded research helps manage the environmental and market pressures facing the 113-million-pound annual harvest.

Researchers and coastal organizations tracking Sea Grant competitions can find deadline alerts and analysis on the Granted blog.