There's been a recurring theme in Steven Hart's meetings with politicians on Capitol Hill over the past few years. As executive director of the Soy Aquaculture Alliance, Hart has met with politicians to discuss soybean production in the United States and its growing use in aquaculture fish feeds. However, a repeated question Hart has fielded is, "Why is the soy industry here representing the aquaculture industry?"
The answer to that question is the Coalition for U.S. Seafood Production, or CUSP, which announced its formation last week at the Aquaculture Americas conference in Seattle. The group has met for the past four years and had its first official meeting in June, said Hart.
In 2001 the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service announced its Marine Aquaculture Policy to support the growth of U.S. aquaculture production. However, the plan lacks depth because it doesn't have a regulatory framework beyond saying, "we support this." Meetings with NOAA officials have typically ended with a "we're doing the best we can" reply. Read the SeaFood Business cover story published in September 2011 for a good background of the challenges facing domestic aquaculture production.
Hart admits that this is just a "paper organization" without bylaws, articles of incorporation, a staff or even funding. But looking at the names and groups that are already supporting CUSP, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Taylor Shellfish, Darden, NOAA, New England Aquarium and others, you'll realize the potential this group has to make a difference.
When asked what the biggest challenge is for growing domestic aquaculture production, Hart says the industry needs to move from talking about aquaculture at the agency level and begin discussions at the congressional level to get support.
It's a low-margin product with little to no marketing, yet aquaculture has tons of potential to create change on many different levels. It's clear that without the focused efforts of CUSP, the domestic aquaculture industry stands little chance of moving the production dial forward at all.
Do yourself and others a favor, spend some time and get involved
February 25, 2014
