Saving Seafood

Offshore aquaculture advocates ask US lawmakers to invest USD 42 million in research and development

May 16, 2025 — Advocates for developing offshore aquaculture in U.S. federal waters are asking lawmakers to invest USD 42 million (EUR 37.7 million) to help grow the nation’s aquaculture output.

Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS), a coalition of industry stakeholders in offshore aquaculture, sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, highlighting the spending it says is necessary to support sustainable development of the aquaculture sector.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Gulf fish farming project at risk as judge pulls nationwide permit

May 2, 2025 — A federal judge repealed a nationwide permit for industrial fish farming off the coasts of Florida and California. Instead, the company leading the project will have to turn to individualized permits.

Ocean Era, a Hawaii-based company, proposed a series of industrial fishnets, including three that would be located roughly 45-miles southwest of Sarasota.

Their proposal predates a President Donald Trump 2020 executive order that initially created these “blanket” permits that could be granted by the Army Corp of Engineers.

With U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson revoking the nationwide permit on March 17, Ocean Era would have to turn to individualized permits to create fish farms.

Read the full story at WUWF

Sens. Sullivan, Booker reintroduce Keep Finfish Free Act

May 1, 2025 — Legislation to prohibit federal agencies from issuing permits or taking other action to authorize or facilitate commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the exclusive economic zone was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate on April 30 by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J. and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

The Keep Finfish Free Act, which would apply to all waters from 3-200 nautical miles offshore, is a step consistent with current Alaska state law, which bans offshore finfish farming in state waters.

“This legislation would ban risky fish farming operations in federal waters that could jeopardize the health of our fish species and undermine Alaska’s coastal fishing communities,” Sullivan said.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

Aquaculture projects face years of permitting despite Trump’s efforts

April 27, 2025 — Permitting is a costly regulatory hurdle among many U.S. industries with money, time, opportunity and business are all lost to the cumbersome grind of securing the government’s approval.

Consider the seafood industry, which President Donald Trump just threw a life-jacket.

Despite the United States controlling over four million square miles of prime fishing grounds, nearly 90% of seafood consumed domestically is imported, contributing to a trade deficit exceeding $20 billion, according to the executive order.

At the POWERS Summit and Expo hosted by the American Association of Port Authorities, U.S. Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips addressed the financial and operational challenges posed by inconsistent federal permitting processes for aquaculture facilities.

She highlighted that varying enforcement practices by the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Endangered Species Act have led to unpredictability and increased costs for aquaculture operators.

Read the full story at The Center Square

Trump’s tariffs and subsequent trade war trigger further unease among aquaculture investors

April 14, 2025 — Elevated economic and political upheaval and the looming threat of tariffs have started hindering investments in the blue food economy, with backers of start-ups finding later-stage funders are edging away from the aquaculture innovation space.

Speaking at the Blue Food Innovation Summit, held in London from 8 to 9 April 2025, Aqua-Spark Chief Portfolio Officer Maria Velkova said there’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the aquaculture industry at present – particularly among investors. Such a backdrop tends to make things more difficult, with people becoming increasingly risk-averse and more prone to freezing up.

 Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Dunleavy’s bill to legalize fish farms seen as flaky by many lawmakers, interest groups

February 25, 2025 — A bill by Gov. Mike Dunleavy allowing fish farms in Alaska, which has banned them for the past 35 years, is getting a little bit of misunderstanding and a whole lot of opposition from legislators and interest groups, including some of his closest political allies.

House Bill 111 would allow inland farms for species such as tilapia, catfish and carp — but not for salmon, although some opponents of the bill are focusing on that species in their comments. In response, Dunleavy released a six-minute video on his YouTube channel Monday night defending his proposal.

“This bill does not allow the farming of salmon,” he said at the start of the video. “That is an iconic Alaskan species of fish, the five species of salmon. It also won’t allow Atlantic salmon to be grown in Alaska.”

“It allows mom-and-pop operations, families — whether you’re you’re in a city, you’re in a you’re in on the Kenai Fairbanks Matsu, or remotely — it allows you to legally be able to grow, for example, rainbow trout or Dolly Varden which, right now, there is no commercial fishery on that. There is no competition in terms of competing with our wild-caught salmon. But it will allow people to grow these, these, these fish in livestock tanks in their garage or livestock tanks out back.”

Read the full article at Juneau Empire

Rabobank predicts 2025 to bring aquaculture growth on improved demand, lower input costs

January 3, 2024 — Rabobank’s RaboResearch unit is forecasting an increase in global aquaculture production in 2025, with increases seen in both farmed fish and shrimp volumes.

While increasing tariffs and trade restrictions may bring uncertainty or impede the industry, lower feed prices and rising demand should benefit producers, according to “Global Aquaculture Outlook 2025,” published by Rabobank’s Global Animal Protein Sector team. The publication projects that finfish production will see the most growth, while shrimp – which continues to be affected by low prices – will experience a more modest upturn.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US government finalizes its first aquaculture development plan in 40 years

December 17, 2024 — The White House National Science and Technology Council has finalized the federal government’s new aquaculture plan, the first in 40 years.

On 16 December, NOAA Fisheries revealed that the council had finalized the Strategic Plan for Aquaculture Economic Development, which outlines the government plans to invest in infrastructure, establish new research and development programs, and provide capitol to the domestic aquaculture sector.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US offshore aquaculture industry launches campaign to increase Congressional support

November 13, 2024 — Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS), a coalition of stakeholders in the U.S. aquaculture industry, has launched a month-long campaign to educate federal lawmakers and their staff about aquaculture and raise support for offshore finfish farming.

“As one of the most environmentally friendly methods for producing protein, open ocean aquaculture is a vital food production method being embraced by nations worldwide but it remains an untapped industry here in the U.S.,” SATS Campaign Manager Drue Banta Winters said in a statement.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MAINE: Maine instituting workforce development programs to tackle aquaculture labor shortages

September 11, 2024 — The U.S. state of Maine’s USD 137 million (EUR 124 million) aquaculture industry is attracting investment and creating new job opportunities, but filling those jobs as fast as they’re opening has become an issue.

The Maine Aquaculture Association estimates that based on current growth trends, aquaculture businesses statewide will be short 1,300 employees 15 years from now, making workforce development a crucial issue for the industry if it wants to expand as planned.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource