World Aquaculture Magazine - September 2021

38 SEP TEMBER 2021 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG will result in data that can play a pivotal role in advancing the sector. Data are critical to ensure sustainable growth and expansion of marine aquaculture. This includes ensuring adequate support for farmers to access insurance and disaster relief aid and to adapt to changing ocean and market conditions more rapidly. Data are also critical for permitting agencies and resource managers to coordinate and manage the sector sustainably and can play an important role in garnering broader support in the form of social license and political will. However, data are only useful if they are of sufficient quality and consistency. Farmers are central in collecting and reporting data, but there are also other opportunities to increase data collection independent of producers (e.g., using satellites to determine farm size or drones to collect water quality data). Clearly defining data needs and requirements is an essential first step to ensure all efforts to collect data are contributing to sustainable growth of marine aquaculture in the US. Some additional benefits that stronger, more consistent data can support include: Political Prioritization Aquaculture is not currently a priority for most policy makers in the US. This can make it difficult to garner political will to support aquaculture-enabling policies. Marine aquaculture is more likely to grow and expand in the US if it is a priority for lawmakers (Froehlich et al. 2020). In a parallel study, we found most aquaculture policy is patchwork in nature, similar to current data collection approaches. Importantly, there was evidence that best management practices, right to farm legislation, and agency capacity—all of which depend on accurate and up-to-date data—co-occurred with a greater number of marine farms for a given marine coastal state. Unfortunately, current marine aquaculture data in the US are not adequate for policymakers to feel confident about making it a priority. In fact, our research suggests US marine aquaculture is likely much more valuable and diverse than currently reported. Amore accurate and up-to-date accounting of domestic marine aquaculture production could provide important information about the sector’s contributions to the US economy, jobs, food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and other priority issues Introduction Approximately 65 percent of seafood consumed in the United States (US) is imported, making the nation the largest net importer of seafood globally (Gephart et al. 2019). Domestic demand for seafood is on the rise, but US contributions to the global seafood supply have changed little in the last 30 years. However, there is potential to increase domestic seafood production by supplementing existing well-managed fisheries and freshwater aquaculture with a diverse portfolio of marine aquaculture in US waters. The US has the second largest exclusive economic zone in the world and, with a recent presidential executive order initiating the assessment of Aquaculture Opportunity Zones in sovereign marine waters, the marine aquaculture sector is poised to close the seafood trade gap. These farms could provide jobs and economic benefits, healthy and sustainable food, ecosystem benefits and more. They could also help meet the growing domestic demand for seafood while giving US producers and consumers greater influence over their contribution to seafood sustainability (Lester et al. 2018). Countries such as the US may better support sustainable marine aquaculture growth by, in part, setting specific goals and targets supported by clear policies (Froehlich et al. 2020). Prioritizing such actions will require political will and social license. To increase social license, trust has to be earned and maintained. Additionally, farmers need support and assistance to withstand and adapt to systemic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change that impact production and markets. The common thread that links all of these requirements for sustainable growth and expansion of US marine aquaculture is data. Consistent, up-to-date data will play an important role in achieving all of these goals. Unfortunately, marine aquaculture data in the US are not sufficient to address this need (van Senten et al. 2020, Mikkelsen et al. 2021). It’s not all bad news. There are opportunities to leverage existing infrastructure to improve marine aquaculture data in the US. Why Data Matter For many, improved marine aquaculture monitoring and reporting may seem like additional layers of work required to obtain or retain a permit to operate. But better monitoring and reporting The U.S. Needs Stronger Marine Aquaculture Data to Support Sustainable Seafood Growth Kimberly Thompson, Luke Gardner, Halley E. Froehlich, Sarah E. Lester and Rebecca R. Gentry Countries such as the US may better support sustainable marine aquaculture growth by, in part, setting specific goals and targets supported by clear policies. Prioritizing such actions will require political will and social license. To increase social license, trust has to be earned and maintained. Additionally, farmers need support and assistance to withstand and adapt to systemic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change that impact production and markets. The common thread that links all of these requirements for sustainable growth and expansion of US marine aquaculture is data. Consistent, up-to-date data will play an important role in achieving all of these goals.