Q&A with NOAA Director Danielle Blacklock on Why Aquaculture Expansion is Essential

The expansion of U.S. aquaculture would provide many benefits for American communities, including jobs, industry growth and food security. But first, Congress must address the regulatory hurdles that constrain domestic offshore aquaculture.

Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) spoke with Danielle Blacklock, the Director of the Office of Aquaculture at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), about why the expansion of aquaculture is part of the agency’s efforts and how it is essential for the future of the seafood industry and our country.

Does NOAA support federal efforts to increase sustainable seafood production in federal waters, and if so, why?

Fostering sustainable marine aquaculture is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) strategy for both economic and environmental resilience in coastal communities. Seafood farming, if done responsibly—as it is in the U.S.— supports a healthy economy, a healthy planet, and healthy people. When we look at the future of our food systems in the United States, we have to consider a growing population, a changing climate, and increasing strain on our natural resources. In light of these, aquaculture comes into the foreground as an opportunity to sustainably increase our domestic protein supply.

NOAA Fisheries and its partners have made good progress in ending overfishing in the United States through sound, science-based management practices, but wild fish harvests cannot meet current seafood demands. Aquaculture of many types and many places will be a vital part of our seafood future, from land-based ponds and recirculating aquaculture facilities, to coastal farms, and those offshore in federal waters. This mosaic of seafood production and harvest capabilities will work in concert to support the needs of the American people.

In the absence of federal legislation, what is the outlook for the U.S. offshore aquaculture industry?

A predictable and efficient permitting system and negative public perception of aquaculture remain the largest barriers to expanding sustainable domestic aquaculture. Without legislation, NOAA will continue to work with partner agencies to improve the permitting system through the confines of existing authorities. As with many forms of production and development in the United States, marine aquaculture is governed by a suite of regulations to protect the environment. Through federal collaborations, we are undertaking efforts to make existing regulations work in concert, in a predictable way. The bulk of this effort is being done through the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Aquaculture. This council, co-chaired by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NOAA, has developed a Strategic Plan to Enhance Regulatory Efficiency in Aquaculture. The plan outlines actions that federal agencies can take within their existing statutory authorities and budgetary resources to improve the efficiency, predictability and timeliness, and to reduce the costs of reviewing, approving, monitoring, and enforcing permits and other regulatory requirements for commercial aquaculture ventures.

Would offshore aquaculture impact U.S. fishermen?

Aquaculture and wild-capture seafood are intertwined and both are critical to our nation’s future food supply. We find that in many coastal communities fishing families and seafood farming families are one in the same. Many fishermen have looked to aquaculture as a way to diversify their income, create year-round revenue, and build climate-resilient businesses.

In addition, NOAA brings science to the table to help ensure that fishing and aquaculture can happen harmoniously. By conducting proactive research, data-driven sitting analysis for aquaculture, and cross-industry conversations through efforts like the development of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, NOAA is fostering sustainable aquaculture while decreasing potential conflicts over space. With 3.4 million nautical miles in our Exclusive Economic Zone, we are finding there is room in our waters for a vibrant multi-sectoral seafood industry.

Through the National Sea Grant Program, NOAA also supported economic efforts to mitigate potential challenges by supporting 12 research projects to advance the understanding of the economics of aquaculture businesses and provide the industry with important market information to aid sustainable growth. In fact, NOAA Fisheries also recently hired another economist to augment our effort to understand the economic impacts surrounding aquaculture development.

In your opinion, why is the expansion of aquaculture essential for the future of the seafood industry and for our country?

The current global population is more than 7 billion and is expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050 and we have to find a way to sustainably feed this larger population. Traditional land-based agriculture consumes more than half of all arable land and 70 percent of the world’s freshwater resources. Further, the intensifying magnitude and frequency of droughts, storms, and other climate- and weather-related events have revealed the vulnerability of agriculture to these shocks.
 
While not immune to the effects of climate change, ocean-based aquaculture operations require less freshwater, land resources, and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions to produce food and present a novel set of resilience opportunities. There is great potential to reduce pressure on limited land-based resources and freshwater by farming fish, shellfish, and seaweeds in the ocean. The U.S. possesses the largest exclusive economic zone in the world yet imports over 85% of our seafood. We have scientists, engineers, and growers working to advance sustainable domestic aquaculture. They are developing dependable cage systems, monitoring systems, and cutting-edge sitting tools. When these are paired with the nation’s ocean space, working waterfront know-how, and the need for food resilience the benefits of U.S. aquaculture are clear.

How would sustainable aquaculture expansion benefit states across the country?

In many coastal communities, aquaculture creates year-round jobs and supports resilient working waterfronts. Marine aquaculture is also a resource-efficient method of increasing and diversifying U.S. seafood production that can expand and stabilize U.S. seafood supply in the face of environmental change and economic uncertainty. Aquaculture also provides economic opportunities all the way into the agricultural heartland and Silicon Valley. As the industry shifts away from fishmeal and fish oil for feed, products like soy, corn, canola, algae and other feed ingredients are becoming common. In addition, modern aquaculture is precise and technologically advanced. Along with traditional farm production positions like hatchery technicians, numerous tech companies are looking at aquaculture as the next frontier for their business and staff. For these reasons, a vibrant domestic aquaculture industry is critical for our nation’s coastal communities, economic growth, and for our food security through access to healthy and sustainable protein.