NOAA is advancing a pair of environmental studies that could result in up to 23,000 acres of Pacific and Gulf of Mexico waters being opened to aquaculture development.
The draft programmatic environmental impact statements, released last week, consider the effects of commercial-scale aquaculture at 10 locations in the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Monica Bay off Southern California, as well as four sites in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas and Louisiana.
The studies examine the effects of growing shellfish, finfish and seaweed in controlled ocean environments with hopes of providing an alternative to wild-caught seafood species that are becoming more finite as fishing pressure mounts and ocean habitats undergo profound environmental shifts.
“With climate change posing risks to America’s food security, aquaculture offers a pathway to grow climate resilience,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said in a statement. “Identifying areas suitable for sustainable aquaculture is a forward-looking step toward strengthening climate-smart food systems.”
