NOAA Fisheries has unveiled its plan for implementing the United States’ first National Seafood Strategy, a document the agency released last year to guide the federal government’s efforts to support the domestic seafood sector.
“The Implementation Plan is where the rubber meets the road,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said. “It outlines the specific actions to achieve the goals we laid out in the strategy to support our nation’s seafood sector and the benefits it provides.”
NOAA Fisheries’ highlighted four goals in the implementation plan, including:
- Maintaining or increasing sustainable wild-capture production;
- Increasing sustainable U.S. aquaculture production;
- Fostering access to domestic and global markets for the U.S. seafood industry; and
- strengthening the entire U.S. seafood sector.
The plan lays out several action items to achieve its goals. To increase sustainable wild-capture production, NOAA Fisheries has begun assessing the effect of climate change on regional fisheries harvest scenarios. To do that, the agency is conducting regional fishery scenario modeling with the regional fishery management councils, and said it hopes to support the commercial development of underutilized species that may be benefiting from climate change.
NOAA Fisheries will coordinate with other federal agencies, local and regional governments, NGOs, producers, and harvesters and fishers to undertake the various actions laid out in the plan.
“No one entity can do this work alone. To truly achieve a more resilient and competitive seafood sector, we all need to work together,” Coit said. “The National Seafood Strategy and now our Implementation Plan demonstrates what we at NOAA Fisheries can do to reach those goals.”
The plan highlights four “cross-cutting pilot initiatives” that exemplify the agency’s interest in working with partners. Those pilots include Alaska seafood resilience, Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic shrimp industry resilience, Port of Port Orford, Oregon Resilience, and Pacific and Atlantic highly migratory species fisheries resilience.
NOAA Fisheries noted that the implementation plan is “meant to be a living document” that will be revised as the agency receives feedback.
“We will continue to consult with seafood industry members, management councils, states, tribes, and other constituents as we execute this implementation plan,” NOAA Fisheries Senior Advisor for Seafood Strategy Michael Rubino said.
