House Hearing Demonstrates Bipartisan Interest in Growing U.S. Aquaculture

Last week on Capitol Hill, Congress made clear there is bipartisan momentum for expanding U.S. aquaculture.

On June 4, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a hearing on “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness,” following the President’s recent Executive Order aimed at revitalizing the seafood industry and boosting seafood production, including through aquaculture. During the hearing,

Representative Dave Min (D-CA) emphasized the importance of embracing alternative food production methods like sustainable, open ocean aquaculture to complement our wild-capture fisheries. “In Norway, they’ve developed a massively successful aquaculture system,” Rep. Min stated. “I think they create an example we could follow here in the United States.” He urged colleagues to examine “the regulatory barriers that might be inhibiting us from thinking about sustainability and a model of aquaculture.” Watch his full remarks below.

Ahead of the hearing, SATS submitted a letter for the record underscoring the massive opportunity before Congress to advance legislation that unlocks the full potential of American aquaculture.

The U.S. ranks only 17th globally in aquaculture production and imports up to 85% of the seafood we consume—half of which is farmed in countries overseas like China, India and Indonesia. Expanding domestic seafood production is a clear opportunity for the U.S. to once again lead in sustainable seafood.

The need for federal legislation to support expansion of U.S. aquaculture was also a key topic of conversation during a June 3 panel during Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) entitled, “Red, White and Blue Fisheries: Advancing U.S. Seafood Competitiveness.”

“In the U.S., the aquaculture permitting process takes up to 10 to 20 years… we really do need to have that process streamlined a bit more,” Linda Cornish, President and Founder of the Seafood Nutrition Partnership, explained.

Today, duplicative and costly environmental reviews by multiple federal agencies and a lack of a clear permitting framework make it nearly impossible for fish farmers to establish aquaculture operations in U.S. federal waters. To date, no commercial scale finfish farm has successfully navigated the U.S. federal regulatory process, though some progress has recently been made.

In May, the EPA awarded a historic permit for Ocean Era’s Velella Epsilon demonstration project, allowing a single net pen in open ocean waters off Florida’s coast. This small project has been mired in the permitting process for more than seven years, with even more hurdles still ahead before the project is fully approved to enter the water.

Ocean Era’s pioneering project may help set the stage for responsible aquaculture in the U.S., but it is only a first step. Clear legislation is needed to establish a regulatory path for aquaculture in federal waters and help more farms get in the water responsibly.

There is growing bipartisan consensus in Congress—and strong support from seafood industry leaders, environmental groups, chefs, and academics—for legislation to expand U.S. aquaculture. The time for action is now. With the right federal policies in place, the U.S. will unlock the full potential of aquaculture and reclaim our position as a global leader in sustainable ocean food production.