Incorporating different ways of knowing in research and management has the potential to bring creativity to environmental problem-solving through integrating ways of knowing and innovation via co-producing knowledge. To gain these benefits, North Carolina Sea Grant Extension offers small annual grants called Fisheries Resource Grants to paired fisher and scientist investigators with research ideas grounded in practical application. A decade-long retrospective of water quality-focused projects reveals the potential to successfully integrate and innovate relevant information for problem-solving, but also to lay the groundwork for future collaborative research to continue that legacy.