WHAT’S WRONG WITH OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE PERMITTING? … AND HOW TO MAKE IT RIGHT

The Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for offshore aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico was approved by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council in 2009. The Rules for implementation of this FMP were finally set in place in January 2016. Since then, not a single applicant has - to our knowledge - stepped forward to initiate a permit process. Something, clearly, is wrong.

The Ocean Stewards have recommended that the Department of Commerce institute five primary changes to the current regulations, to begin to set things right, and to lay the foundation for America's offshore aquaculture industry. These recommendations are :

1. a single agency - NOAA - to take the lead for ocean aquaculture permitting;
2. specific ocean areas to be designated as appropriate for aquaculture, where projects do not significantly conflict with other ocean user-groups, and where permit applications might be expedited;  
3. an overarching EIS for ocean aquaculture that would identify all potential significant impacts from a generic net pen fish farm, and describe the required monitoring and mitigatory measures for such projects, to ensure that some uniform standards are applied, and to expedite applicant reviews;
4. a timely review process to be established for commercial aquaculture projects; and
5. a simplified process to be put in place for expedited review and approval of experimental aquaculture projects.

This presentation reviews the underpinning rationale behind each of these recommendations. The presentation also discusses moving forward with small-scale demonstration projects in GoM waters as a precursor to larger commercial permits, to help to allay commercial and recreational fishing interests' fears about the impacts of net pens, and to show the Fish Aggregating Device benefits that can arise from providing structure offshore.  

The Ocean Stewards Institute asserts that we have a moral responsibility to grow more of our seafood here, in America's waters, where we can have some control over the environmental, animal welfare, food safety, and workplace health and safety standards, and where we can use American innovation, investment and entrepreneurship to create American jobs.