NOAA announces 10-year marine aquaculture plan

By Stephen Rappaport
The Ellsworth American

Ellsworth, Maine--After two years of effort involving hundreds of bureaucrats, conservation advocates, scientists and fish farmers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) last month published a 10-year blueprint for the development of a national marine aquaculture program.

A draft plan was prepared at the request of NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee. The committee reviewed the draft last summer and recommended formal adoption of the plan to NOAA Fisheries Administrator William Hogarth in July.

The plan establishes a framework for the development of marine aquaculture on a national scale. It also calls for the creation of a comprehensive regulatory program that will support environmentally sustainable marine aquaculture.

NOAA envisions several roles for marine aquaculture. One aim is to develop a mechanism for replenishing depleted wild stocks of marine species such as cod and haddock in the Northeast and redfish in the Gulf of Mexico.

A second aim is to create a commercial marine aquaculture industry that can supplement the nation’s food supply. According to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, one benefit from developing a national marine aquaculture industry would be to improve the security of the U.S. food supply.

Last year, according to NOAA, Americans consumed 16.5 pounds of seafood per capita. About 80 percent of that seafood, some 5.5 billion pounds worth about $13.4 billion, was imported.

Shrimp was the top import. The United States imported 1.3 billion pounds of fresh and frozen shrimp, worth some $4.1 billion, in 2006. More than 30 percent of that total came from Thailand.

Second on the list in terms of value was Atlantic salmon. U.S. salmon imports, primarily from Chile, Canada, the United Kingdom and Norway, were worth some $1.4 billion, including the value of imported fillets and steaks, as well as whole fish.

Second in terms of volume was fresh and frozen tuna. The United States imported 429 million pounds of whole tunas worth some $611 million.

Sadly, for a nation that once prided itself on its landings of groundfish such as cod and haddock, the United States imported some 269 million pounds of such fish in 2006.

Developing a marine aquaculture industry will not be an easy task. In addition to facing huge technical hurdles, the idea of establishing large fish farms in the ocean has drawn considerable opposition from domestic conservation organizations.

To implement its new marine aquaculture plan NOAA will have to convince Congress to provide the funding necessary for a major new undertaking without compromising the agency’s other programs. The plan envisions the creation of a whole new field organization devoted to marine aquaculture that is similar to NOAA’s other fisheries programs.

NOAA will also have to overcome considerable opposition from state governments. Historically, nearly all marine aquaculture operations in U.S. waters have been conducted in nearshore waters controlled by the states. State fisheries agencies such as the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) may prove reluctant to cede their authority to a federal agency.