New Bipartisan Bill Introduced in Congress to Advance Open Ocean Aquaculture

On July 31, Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the bipartisan Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act of 2025 (S.2586), a bill that would advance the development of commercial-scale open ocean aquaculture in U.S.federal waters—enabling the U.S. to responsibly grow more sustainable seafood domestically.

“The bipartisan consensus is clear: Congressional action is needed to build a robust American open ocean aquaculture industry, and the MARA Act lays the groundwork towards that goal,” said Drue Banta Winters, campaign manager of Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS). “We thank Senators Schatz and Wicker for their leadership in introducing legislation that will allow us to demonstrate how we can grow more of our own seafood here at home—and do so responsibly and sustainably, just like it’s already being done today in countries abroad and in our own state waters.”

Expanding American aquaculture would increase our domestic seafood supply, create jobs, attract investment to coastal communities, strengthen the seafood industry, and reduce the nation’s seafood trade deficit.

“This growing bipartisan consensus in Congress to advance open ocean aquaculture in America comes with strong support from leading environmental groups, seafood industry businesses, chefs, and academics who all agree: We can responsibly grow more of our own seafood here at home,” Banta Winters continued. “With today’s advanced technology, the responsible farming of seafood can sustainably complement our nation’s wild-capture harvesting to meet the growing demand for fresh, American-raised seafood, create new job opportunities and encourage investment in working waterfront communities.”

The U.S. imports up to 85% of the seafood we consume, half of which comes from fish farms in other countries. As a result, the U.S. ranks just 18th in aquaculture production, behind nations like China, India, and Indonesia that continue to grow their fish farmingnindustries.

While demand for fresh, sustainably raised seafood continues to grow, the lack of a clear pathway for open ocean aquaculture in U.S. waters has hindered industry growth.To date, no commercial-scale finfish farm has successfully navigated the federal permitting process, which involves duplicative, costly environmental reviews across multiple agencies and a lack of a clear permitting framework—making it nearly impossible to establish operations in federal waters.

One small project, Ocean Era’s Velella Epsilon project—a single-net-pen demonstration farm off the coast of Florida, recently received a permit from the EPA. The project, which is the size of just 1% of a commercial-scale farm, has been mired in the permitting process for more than seven years and still faces more hurdles before it is fully approved to enter the water.

The MARA Act would:

-Establish an assessment program to evaluate commercial-scale demonstration projects.

-Create a dedicated Office of Aquaculture within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service to coordinate federal permitting for a U.S. aquaculture program.

-Set clear timelines and establish a consolidated environmental review process during the permitting approval process.

 -Authorize grant funding to modernize American working waterfront communities, including infrastructure that benefits both commercial fishing and aquaculture.

 -Invest in workforce training and curriculum development to train the next generation of aquaculture professionals.

The bill builds on years of bipartisan legislative effort, incorporating key provisions from both the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture, or AQUAA Act, and the Science-based Equitable Aquaculture Food, or SEAfood Act, which were both introduced in previous congresses.

Learn more about the economic and environmental benefits of open ocean aquaculture.