Marine Aquaculture in the United States: A Review of Current and Future Policy and Management Challenges

Abstract

Aquaculture in the United States has the potential to become a major growth industry in the 21st Century. However, a number of issues continue to constrain the development of marine aquaculture in the United States. The campier and diverse nature of the industry, conflicts with other, more traditional uses of the nation’s coastal and ocean waters, environmental concerns, and the existing legal and regulatory climate all contribute to this situation. If the domestic marine aquaculture industry is to succeed and grow in the future, these issues must be resolved. First, the United States must reevaluate and reaffirm the nation’s aquaculture policy. Second, the couuntry must support sustainable marine aquaculture. Marine aquaculture in coastal and offshore waters of the United States must be developed with an eye toward sustainability—with a goal of producing products while conserving natural resources. Third, assuming the United States is truly committed to the development of the marine aquaculture industry, mechanisms must be put into place to refine existing measures and establish new implementation measures to guide its growth. The key to the future of marine aquaculture in the United State is the creation of technological and policy systems that provide for sustainable marine aquaculture. Systems that will move the industry forward will require an unequivocal commitment by the nation’s political leadership to create them, by the federal bureaucracy to implement them, by the academic community to generate and extend information to improve them, and by the industry to put then into practice.