 |
 |
 |
NOAA Fisheries Strategic Plan
Sustainable Fisheries - Objective 4
OBJECTIVE 4: Promote the development of robust and environmentally sound aquaculture
Aquaculture is defined as the propagation and rearing of aquatic organisms in controlled or selected aquatic environments for any commercial, recreational, or public purpose. Potential purposes of aquaculture include bait production, wild stock enhancement, fish culture for zoos and aquaria, rebuilding of populations of threatened and endangered species, and food production for human consumption.
The U.S. lags behind other nations in the use of aquaculture to meet the growing demand for seafood in the global marketplace. Domestic aquaculture presently supplies only 5.9 percent of the nation's seafood needs, while aquaculture worldwide accounted for 17 percent of global seafood production. Aquaculture provides opportunities to reduce our dependence on capture fisheries, to meet increased U.S. demand for year-round stable supplies of quality seafood, to reduce the U.S. trade deficit by decreasing our reliance on imported products while expanding U.S. exports to meet increasing demand overseas, and to alleviate the economic impacts of wild stock declines on coastal communities through the creation of new jobs and businesses. While aquaculture is not a substitute for wise management of wild stock fisheries, it is a vital tool to help meet the growing demand for seafood in the next century, and it will play a significant role in the future of our Agency.
For over one hundred years, NMFS has been developing techniques for the culture of marine organisms for both food production and wild stock enhancement. This specialized expertise along with its established infrastructure for management of living marine resources enables NMFS to support the development of a commercially viable and environmentally sound domestic aquaculture industry. NMFS, in partnership with other elements within NOAA and DOC, will address the impediments to the development of a domestic aquaculture industry and the necessary environmental safeguards associated with such development. These impediments include the lack of appropriate production technologies and a predictable and timely regulatory process. Emphasis will be placed on developing production technologies for candidate species, enhancement strategies for depleted stocks, and a regulatory framework and permitting process for aquaculture in the EEZ.
Performance Measures
In the next 5 years, NOAA Fisheries will:
- Promote the commercial rearing of at least seven new species.
- Reduce the time and cost of permitting environmentally sound aquaculture ventures.
- Provide financial assistance for environmentally sound aquaculture ventures.
- Identify areas in coastal waters and the EEZ suitable for environmentally sound aquaculture development.
- Develop and implement environmentally sound aquaculture technologies and practices.
Strategies
- We will study new candidate species for culture through their complete life cycle to determine which are economically and biologically suitable for commercial culture or wild stock enhancement.
- We will develop, in cooperation with state and other federal agencies, and through the Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture, rational, simplified permitting and regulatory processes which are based upon scientifically sound conservation policies, and which will lead to the establishment of a policy on the use of the EEZ for private aquaculture.
- We will address user conflicts affecting aquaculture development, thereby creating a more predictable business climate in which aquaculture ventures can operate.
- We will provide loans to environmentally sound aquaculture ventures through the Fisheries Finance Program.
- We will determine requirements for the siting of aquaculture operations in the EEZ.
- We will work with the aquaculture industry to develop, identify, evaluate and transfer technologies that are appropriate to both efficient aquaculture production and environmental protection.
Go to NEXT SECTION of the Strategic Plan
Return to TABLE OF CONTENTS
Back to NOAA Fisheries Home Page