December 15, 2020 — Now in the early stages of planning, NMFS officials are seeking public comments on the potential for “aquaculture opportunity areas” off southern California and the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s an early step in what will be a three-year process to identify those areas and develop “programmatic” environmental impact statements, agency workers said in a online virtual public information session 3 December.
December 4, 2020 — Now in the early stages of planning, NMFS officials are seeking public comments on the potential for “aquaculture opportunity areas” off southern California and the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s an early step in what will be a three-year process to identify those areas and develop “programmatic” environmental impact statements, agency workers said in a online virtual public information session Dec. 3.
The California and gulf areas outlined so far by NMFS for study will not entirely become set aside for aquaculture, stressed Kristy Beard, a NMFS fishery policy analyst.
“Aquaculture opportunity areas are about spatial analysis and environmental analysis,” said Beard. The process aims to maximize compatibility of aquaculture with other uses, including wild fisheries, navigation, commercial activities and military missions, she and other speakers explained.
That’s one reason it makes sense to start with the Gulf of Mexico and California, said Beard. There is already a lot of long-existing spatial analysis and environmental data that can be mined and help run the aquaculture planning process.