After years in development, mariculture startup Ocean Era has secured the key permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that allows its red drum offshore fish farm pilot off the coast of Florida to move forward.
According to the EPA permit, Ocean Era has been approved to raise up to 20,000 red drum over the course of a year in a single net pen located roughly 40 miles off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A. The agency estimated that the total estimated fish harvest weight for the project is 46,750 pounds based on an 85 percent survival rate.
Hawaii-based Ocean Era has been pushing U.S. regulators to approve its Velella Epsilon project since the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump.
In 2023, the company decided to switch from almaco jack to red drum, claiming that the latter had a larger market opportunity in the U.S.
However, the company has faced difficulties in securing the needed approvals to actually start the pilot program; offshore aquaculture advocates have repeatedly stated that the U.S. government needs a clear and consistent process for approving aquaculture operations in federal waters.
On 15 May, the EPA issued the final permit needed to launch Velella Epsilon and begin raising fish in federal waters.
The permit, issued via the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), is the first federal permit authorizing offshore finfish farming in U.S. federal waters. The EPA permit ensures Ocean Era’s proposal complies with the Clean Water Act.
The NPDES permit will be effective from 17 June 2025 through 7 July 2027. Ocean Era will need to reapply for a permit if it continues its discharges after that date.
Ocean Era has maintained that the Velella Epsilon project is ...
