Advocates of enabling and expanding offshore aquaculture in the U.S. sent a joint letter to lawmakers in Congress urging them to pass the Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act.
“The U.S. has the science and technology, ocean resources, and skilled seafood workforce to lead in sustainable seafood production,” Drue Banta Winters, campaign manager of Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS), said in a release. “The MARA Act would put in place a pathway to allow us to demonstrate that we can grow more of our seafood here at home both responsibly and sustainably while strengthening coastal economies, supporting America’s terrestrial farmers, and strengthening our nation’s food security.”
Introduced earlier this year, the MARA Act would set up the NOAA Aquaculture Assessment Program, which would enable and then support commercial-scale demonstration projects for offshore aquaculture. The legislation would also direct NOAA Fisheries to create an Office of Aquaculture dedicated to federal permitting, establish timelines for permit approvals to ensure applications aren’t stuck in limbo, provide grant funding for working waterfronts, and invest in workforce development.
“The MARA Act represents a pivotal step toward ensuring that aquaculture in U.S. federal waters is guided by sound science, transparency, and a commitment to ocean health,” Maddie Voorhees, lead for the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture and the Environmental Defense Fund’s U.S. aquaculture campaign director, said in a release. “By investing in research and commercial-scale demonstration projects, this bill will help answer critical questions about how we can responsibly grow more seafood at home while safeguarding the ecosystems and communities that depend on healthy oceans.”
The legislation has faced opposition, with critics calling the plan “an unprecedented experiment in our oceans” that would ultimately be used to establish commercial offshore aquaculture operations in the U.S.
Despite the public opposition, advocates of offshore aquaculture are continuing to pressure lawmakers to advance the bill. Together, SATS and the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture organized a joint letter to key lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources – two committees that will need to approve the legislation before it’s voted on by the full House and Senate.
The joint letter was signed by 140 individuals and organizations, representing the seafood industry, aquaculture businesses, environmental and conservation groups, academics, and more. Among the signatories are the National Fisheries Institute, Cargill, the Northwest Aquaculture Alliance, and the American Fish Feed Association.
“Today, not a single fish farm operates in U.S. federal waters. The MARA Act provides the clear, science-based path needed to ensure that any future development supports rather than undermines our existing seafood economy. By putting science, transparency, and environmental stewardship first, this bill charts a responsible course for America’s ocean future,” the joint letter states. “The time to act is now. With the right policies in place, the United States can unlock the full potential of aquaculture and reclaim its leadership in sustainable ocean food production.”
