Marine Aquaculture

A blue revolution

By Craig Collins

Seafood provides key beneficial nutrients that no other foods have. Seafood is also a good source of low-fat protein and essential minerals and vitamins. About 1.5 billion people worldwide rely on seafood to supply at least a fifth of their animal protein, and American consumption continues to increase: in 2018, the average American ate 16.1 pounds of seafood, maintaining the nation’s status as the world’s second largest consumer of seafood.

These growing demands have not been met – and cannot be met – by the world’s wild-capture fisheries alone. Across the globe, wild fish harvests are not increasing while our global population continues to increase each year. NOAA and its partners have made good progress in ending overfishing in the United States through sound, science-based management practices, but wild fish harvests cannot meet current or future seafood demand.

To meet the growing demand for healthy protein and omega-3 fatty-acids, many nations are turning to farmed seafood as a critical part for a sustainable seafood portfolio. Much like wild-capture fisheries, a vibrant domestic aquaculture industry is critical for more than just increased food security. Seafood farming, if done responsibly – as it is in the U.S. – is increasingly recognized as an environmentally sustainable way to support American seafood production, year-round jobs, rebuilding protected species and habitats, and enhancing coastal resilience. Recognizing the increasing importance of diversifying the U.S. seafood supply, NOAA has numerous mandates and priorities that charge the agency with fostering the growth of a sustainable domestic marine aquaculture industry. These include the National Aquaculture Act, Department of Commerce priorities, and the May 2020 Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth

A net pen aquaculture habitat off of Hawaii.

According to Danielle Blacklock, director of NOAA’s Office of Aquaculture, NOAA has been instrumental in laying the policy and science foundation for a growing U.S. aquaculture industry that today accounts for 21 percent of U.S. seafood production by value. In recent decades, Blacklock said, the U.S. aquaculture industry has implemented several innovations “geared toward increasing sustainability and production, increasing the nutritional value of farmed species, and promoting husbandry best management practices that can decrease or eliminate the use of antibiotics,” said Blacklock. “And a lot of these advancements have been based on research conducted or funded by NOAA.” The agency’s commitment to this aquaculture science and cuttingedge research draws on expertise throughout NOAA:

• The National Ocean Service’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) supports coastal managers and the aquaculture industry by developing coastal planning and management tools and services, including assessing potential environmental impacts of aquaculture. These efforts provide the scientific intelligence required for proper siting of marine aquaculture while maintaining healthy and resilient marine ecosystems.

• NOAA Research’s Sea Grant Program integrates aquaculture research, extension, and education through the national office and 34 university-based Sea Grant programs across the U.S. coasts and Great Lakes. Sea Grant manages NOAA’s primary extramural grant competition for aquaculture industry development. These grants support research and extension activities within universities, industry, and environmental organizations. Sea Grant extension agents live and work in coastal communities, providing science-based information to local governments, citizen groups, and other stakeholders, transferring technologies to industry to increase sustainable aquaculture production.

• NOAA Fisheries focuses on addressing the regulatory, technical, and scientific barriers to domestic marine aquaculture development. The headquarters office and regional aquaculture coordinators address regulatory bottlenecks by increasing permitting efficiency around the nation. NOAA Fisheries also comprises much of NOAA’s inhouse aquaculture research, with activities at Regional Fisheries Science Centers. Research and development efforts focus on providing science information for management by addressing a number of issues including the culture of specific species, alternative feeds, animal health, and habitat benefits and impacts.

The regulatory environment for aquaculture in the United States is complex, with authorities divided among agencies based on several parameters – whether the seafood is produced in tanks on land, or in an inland waterway, or at sea, for example. Among these agencies, Blacklock said, NOAA is a leader: “We liaise with applicants and help them through the federal permit process,” she said. “And we also set the table for other agencies to come together to discuss increasing efficiencies in the permit process.”

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Making the process work better – and more efficient – for seafood farmers and agencies is a major objective of the May 2020 Executive Order. The order directs NOAA to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas and complete an Environmental Impact Statement for each area, to evaluate the impact of prospective facilities. “That process is meant to frontload a lot of what individual farms currently have to go through,” Blacklock said. “We’re doing the science and the analysis up front, to find places appropriate for aquaculture, before an individual applicant applies to get a permit. It does not change what the permitting system looks like, but because we will have focused our spatial analyses and other science tools on a specific body of water, we anticipate that the permitting process will move faster.”

An open water fish farm pen in the ocean off the coast of Maine.

In the years to come, U.S. marine aquaculture, guided by NOAA science, is sure to improve the nation’s food security while also diversifying seafood production that can expand and stabilize U.S. seafood supply in the face of environmental change and economic uncertainty. Blacklock envisions a future in which American farmed seafood leads the world in quality, and sustainability. “We are seeing a growing sense of urgency and optimism around aquaculture and it’s potential to sustainably meet a growing seafood demand while also supplying economic opportunities,” she said. “It’s going to be a keystone of our seafood future.”