Saving Seafood

NOAA analyses to inform aquaculture siting in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California

November 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA released two Atlases compiling the best available science to inform the identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California. NOAA previously identified these regions for their potential to host sustainable commercial aquaculture development in the United States. Areas in the Atlases will have characteristics expected to support multiple types of aquaculture industries including finfish, shellfish, seaweed, or some combination.

“The aquaculture Atlases apply the latest ocean data and information to advance sustainable business development,” said Gina M. Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. “This will help us continue to sustainably support the blue economy, which provides clear benefits for our country, our economy, and the planet.”

“These are the most advanced spatial analyses ever performed for any U.S. ocean regions,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, Assistant Administrator of NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “The Atlases are powerful scientific tools that will help advance food security for all Americans and improve sustainable food production, which is critical for the economic and environmental resilience of our coastal communities.”

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science developed each Atlas using more than 200 data layers accounting for key environmental, economic, social, and cultural considerations, including fishing interests and marine protected areas. The studies identified nine areas in the Gulf of Mexico and 10 areas in the Southern California Bight that may be suitable for aquaculture, while also reducing conflicts with other ocean uses. 

While informed by the Atlases and other relevant information, the decision to identify an AOA will only be made after completion of the National Environmental Policy Act Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, which will assess the impacts of siting aquaculture facilities in different potential locations. Proposed aquaculture development must go through the appropriate permitting process. Though the information delivered in these Atlases is tailored to inform the AOA selection process, the method used to conduct these analyses could also benefit other ocean planning and coastal management. 

“Aquaculture Opportunity Areas will foster development of U.S. aquaculture as a needed complement to our wild capture fisheries resources,” said Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “Using a combination of scientific analysis, aquaculture opportunity Atlases, and public engagement, NOAA is identifying defined geographic areas that are environmentally, socially, and economically appropriate for commercial aquaculture.” 

NOAA will continue to work with Regional Fishery Management Councils, Marine Fisheries Commissions, states, tribes, and other stakeholders to identify areas to be considered in further depth for sustainable aquaculture. Public input is vital to shaping an open and transparent AOA process.

Seafood: The next generation

November 11, 2021 — Over the last few decades local fish has become harder to source for coastal communities, but covid-19 has changed that. Local food systems, including fisheries, have been thriving in the lockdowns, and educators are starting to notice. Small-scale fishermen and local distributors are meeting with students from high schools and colleges all around the coasts.

In August and September, one such group from Sterling College in northern Vermont visited Downeast Maine to learn about local fisheries, seaweed gathering, and aquaculture.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

American Aquafarms CEO talks about industry’s future as wild marine stocks decline

November 9, 2021 — American Aquafarms, a Norwegian company that hopes to install a $300 million salmon farm in the waters of Frenchman Bay, recently announced the appointment of Keith Decker the company’s CEO, based in the U.S.

Decker is a 30-year industry veteran with experience in seafood production and processing, with leadership roles in some of the largest North American seafood companies. He’s a board member and investor in an Oslo, Norway, company that plans to build and operate an industrial scale land-based Atlantic salmon operation outside of Reno, Nev.

American Aquafarms proposes to lease 120 acres in Frenchman Bay, between Bar Harbor and Schoodic Peninsula, to install 30 “closed pens” and produce 66 million pounds of salmon annually, and to install a hatchery and processing facility in Gouldsboro.

Mainebiz asked Decker what drew him to the firm and about his plans going forward.

Here’s an edited transcript.

Mainebiz: Where were you up to now?

Keith Decker: For 17 years in New Hampshire I ran High Liner Foods, the largest manufacturer of value-added seafood in North America. At the peak, I had seven manufacturing plants and 2,000 employees. Then for the last four years, I was building and running the largest groundfish fishing company on the East Coast, Blue Harvest Fisheries LLC, headquartered in New Bedford, Mass.

I’m in the process of moving to Maine.

MB: What drew you to American Aquafarms?

KD: A couple of people from American reached out to me.

What I’ve seen through my career is what I believe is the need to onshore our seafood production and rebuild our production capacity on the East Coast and throughout the United States. As a country, we import about 90% of our seafood. Five of the top eight species we consume are farm-raised and, effectively, the majority of it is grown globally and either air-freighted into the United States or put onto container ships to the United States. One thing that’s become really evident, over the last 18 months, is that COVID has exposed our global supply chain problems, not to mention climate change issues of flying seafood to the United States.

I’ve been interested in farm-raised salmon, kelp, oysters and other species — I think that’s a fantastic industry that will only continue to grow.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

Opportunity, controversy grow for Maine’s aquaculture industry

November 8, 2021 — Joanna Fogg, perched at the prow of her boat, looks out at the 350 oyster cages rocking in the Mount Desert Narrows that make up the bulk of Bar Harbor Oyster Co., the business that she and her husband, Jesse, have spent the past seven years building from the ground up.

The black plastic floats, spread across about 22 acres, may not look like much to some – and may even be an eyesore to others – but Fogg hopes that one day, people will see them as beautiful.

Her farm may not conjure the same quintessential working waterfront images as a lobster boat and brightly colored buoy, Fogg said, but she thinks it should hold the same meaning: “This is what it looks like to feed people.”

And feed people she does.

Even with a projected harvest of about 100,000 oysters this year, Fogg can’t keep up with the demand of Bar Harbor, let alone a state that is rapidly growing its brand as a premier destination for farm-grown seafood.

Fogg’s business is just one of the hundreds of Maine sea farms contributing to the state’s successful aquaculture industry, selling oysters, mussels, seaweed and salmon as fast as they can be grown. The practice has been around for thousands of years, but only in the past few has it become a vital economic engine for the state.

But as more farms have cropped up, so have coalitions and interest groups concerned about Maine’s coastline being overrun by industrial-size operations that pollute the state’s pristine waters and take valuable bottom from Maine’s iconic, nearly half-billion-dollar lobster industry.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

 

ASMFC Seeks Proposals for Regional Pilot Projects in Support of Sustainable Aquaculture – Proposals Due February 1, 2022

November 8, 2021 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission), in partnership with the NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture, is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP), seeking marine aquaculture pilot projects focused on sustainable aquatic farming techniques and regional business practices to grow U.S. domestic seafood. The geographic scope of the proposed projects is the U.S. East Coast states from Maine to Florida. The primary location of the proposed projects must be in the marine/estuarine environment.  Examples of the types of pilot projects being sought through the RFP follow:

• Research and development related to the production and distribution of shellfish seed stock. 

• Finfish, shellfish (other than oyster*), and seaweed farming systems, especially for those species new to aquaculture in the region or that use novel production systems.

• Identification and development of Aquaculture Development Zones with pre-planning and pre-permitting for a range of aquaculture activities.

• Resolution of issues (e.g., enforcement, water quality, public trust concerns or impacts) related to open water finfish farming in state waters.  

• Business incubators

• Regional market and economic impact studies

*Note: Proposals for oyster projects were already requested in a separate RFP (2019 Regional Oyster Aquaculture Research Consortia) 

NOAA Fisheries, through the Commission, is planning on issuing approximately $600,000 for the funding period of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Individual proposals should not exceed $200,000 or be less than $75,000. It is anticipated that approximately 3-5 projects will be funded. Eligible applicants include researchers at U.S. academic institutions, research laboratories, for-profit companies/firms, nonprofits, and state agencies.  Proposals from foreign entities are not eligible. Proposals involving multiple investigators are welcome. U.S. federal government agencies, including Regional Fishery Management Councils, are not eligible to receive funding through this solicitation. Federal staff may be collaborators on proposed projects, as long as they are not compensated for their contribution to the project.

Applicants seeking to apply to the RFP must submit, as a single file, an electronic proposal by email no later than midnight on February 1, 2022. Please see the RFP for complete proposal details, qualifying requirements, and submission instructions. The RFP is available at.http://www.asmfc.org/files/RFPs/2022PilotAquacultureRFP_Nov2021.pdf.

For more information, please contact Pat Campfield and Lindsey Aubart at Aquaculture@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

 

 

Federal aquaculture bill refiled in US Senate for third time since 2018

November 1, 2021 — Three U.S. senators have reintroduced legislation that would open the door for expanded aquaculture in American waters.

U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and Marco Rubio (R-Florida) are the initial sponsors behind S. 3100, the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act. The bill would create federal regulations for fish farms established in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Nordic Aquafarms wins legal victory, moving planned farm in Maine a step forward

November 1, 2021 — Nordic Aquafarms, which has plans to build a large land-based salmon farm in Belfast, Maine, U.S.A., has won a “complete and total victory” in a court case brought against the company by project opponents.

Nordic Aquafarms has been embroiled in a court battle over the ownership of intertidal land adjacent to property the company purchased rights to in order to route inflow and outflow pipes essential to the operations of the company’s proposed recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Huon Aquaculture shareholders approve JBS takeover

November 1, 2021 — Huon Aquaculture shareholders have approved a takeover bid by JBS Australia, a subsidiary of Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS.

At a 29 October company meeting, Huon shareholders offered more than 90 percent support to concurrent acquisition proposals put forth by JBS, which has agreed to pay AUD 3.85 (USD 2.82, EUR 2.39) per Huon share, a transaction worth around AUD 425 million (USD 313.5 million, EUR 266.1 million).

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

AQUAA Act Reintroduced in Congress; Bill Aims to Create Standards for U.S. Offshore Aquaculture

October 29, 2021 — U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Brian Schatz, (D-HI), and Marco Rubio, (R-FL) reintroduced the AQUAA Act which aims to create national standards for offshore aquaculture in the U.S.

The bill was first introduced in September of 2020, with the Senators describing the Act as a complement to former President Donald Trump’s May 2020  Executive Order, “Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth.” The EO focuses on the development of a domestic offshore aquaculture industry which will help create a sustainable seafood source and allow the country to rely more on its own resources.

More specifically, the bill would designate NOAA as the lead agency for marine aquaculture. It would also direct NOAA to “harmonize the permitting system for offshore aquaculture for farms in federal waters, and direct the agency to lead a research and development grant program to spur innovation throughout the industry.”

Read the full story at Seafood News

 

American Aquafarms names Keith Decker as new CEO

October 27, 2021 — American Aquafarms, which announced a plan to build a new salmon-aquaculture facility in the U.S. state of Maine a year ago – has hired Keith Decker as its new CEO.

Decker has been CEO of New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Blue Harvest Fisheries since January 2018, when he replaced Jeff Davis, who retired. Decker previously served as the CEO of High Liner Foods from 2015 to 2017.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource