New York-Based Fish Farming Company Helping Pave the Way to a Sustainable Seafood Future

As more Americans recognize the importance of sustainable food production to combat climate change and address our nation’s food security challenges, a local Long Island-based business, Manna Fish Farms, is helping to pave the way for a sustainable seafood future in the U.S.
 
Founded by Donna Lanzetta, Manna Fish Farms is leading efforts to establish offshore farms in federal waters off the coasts of Long Island and Florida. In addition to other Manna seafood businesses, Donna is working with local universities and non-profits in these states, as well as in California, to develop Aquaculture Innovation Centers. With a strong commitment to sustainability and transparency, and planned farm operations based on the latest science, research, and technology, Manna Fish Farms seeks to raise finfish, shellfish, and seaweed in local waters for American families to enjoy.
 
Growing up in a waterfront community, Donna spent her summers fishing, clamming and crabbing in her local waters of Long Island. Having seen the loss of marine species in her local waterways over the years firsthand, Donna recognized the critical role that sustainable aquaculture can play in providing supplemental local seafood options, while helping protect wild fish stocks and rebuild marine ecosystems in the face of climate change.
 
As one of the most sustainable forms of protein production today, Donna explained in a recent interview with her local newspaper how today’s modern aquaculture, when managed responsibly – as it is here in the U.S. and dozens of other countries – can help meet food security demands for a growing population: “Done right, ocean farming is part of the solution for a climate-smart future.”
 
With the U.S. ranked only 17th in farmed seafood production globally, Donna is a passionate advocate on the benefits that increased aquaculture production would provide to states, including her home state of New York, which stands to benefit from the job creation and economic revenue that would result from the growth of its aquaculture sector.
 
New York’s aquaculture sector, which generates $8.8 million annually, ranks only 19th in the country for farmed fish production despite having the 3rd longest coastline and 5th largest land area among the Great Lakes and Northeast States, according to the New York Sea Grant.
 
Donna explained, “In the U.S., we are currently importing over 90 percent of our seafood. It’s shocking considering the capacity of the U.S. EEZ. We could farm in one-tenth of one percent of our EEZ and grow an amount equal to our total U.S. annual wild catch.”
 
That’s one of the reasons that Donna continues to educate policymakers and the public on why federal legislation is needed to support the expansion of an American aquaculture industry – which currently remains hindered in the U.S. due to the lack of a clear regulatory process for the permitting of offshore aquaculture farms in U.S. federal waters.
 
“We have the opportunity to set the gold standard for ocean farming, finfish farming conducted in submerged net pens, in balance with the environment and serving the marketplace’s increasing demand for delicious, healthy seafood. As more people learn about our philosophy of balancing transparency, care and respect, and our commitment to sustainability, transparency and responsibility, they will want to learn even more and taste our products,” Donna concluded.

Learn more about Manna Fish Farms and read Donna’s full interview with Dan’s Papers here.
 
The Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act (H.R.4013/S.1861), which has bipartisan support in Congress, would establish National Standards for offshore aquaculture, clarifying a regulatory system for the farming of fish in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ).