There is growing national interest and emerging opportunity to farm seaweed, mussels and other shellfish, and finfish in offshore environments within U.S. federal waters. This expansion of offshore aquaculture has created an urgent need for standardized, scientifically defensible approaches to environmental site characterization. Through partnerships with federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and industry, NOAA has developed Baseline Environmental Survey Guidance for Aquaculture in U.S. Federal Waters. This guidance builds on lessons learned from siting the nation’s first offshore aquaculture operations and draws on decades of experience from other sectors of the offshore economy that rely on environmental surveys for exploration and development.
The need for a Baseline Environmental Survey (BES) is project-specific and depends on location, scale, and operational complexity. When required, these surveys provide essential archaeological, hydrographic, and geophysical data, including high-resolution maps of seafloor morphology, cultural resources, and sensitive benthic habitats. This presentation reviews the application of acoustic and magnetic sensing technologies to delineate water depth, substrate type, seabed slope, and roughness, with particular emphasis on identifying sensitive benthic habitats, geohazards, and features that influence both environmental risk and engineering feasibility. The role of marine magnetometers is highlighted as a critical tool for detecting ferrous objects, including shipwrecks, debris fields, unmapped pipelines, and undersea cables that are not readily resolved using acoustic imagery. Resulting datasets are used to delineate sensitive habitats, inform environmental models, guide siting decisions, and support infrastructure design, including anchoring and mooring systems.
The presentation will highlight key findings from the proposed guidance and showcase recent survey applications in the Gulf of America, comparing traditional ship-based methods with emerging autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technologies. By clarifying the practical role of acoustic and geophysical baseline surveys, this work aims to support more efficient, defensible, and predictable pathways for offshore aquaculture development in U.S. federal waters.