AQUACULTURE

ASA Position

ASA supports implementation of marine aquaculture policies that will lead to development of a domestic offshore aquaculture industry. With foreign aquaculture now accounting for about half of the 84 percent of seafood imported by the U.S., development of a domestic industry will create U.S. jobs and meet growing demand for a safe and sustainable source of seafood.

Background

Aquaculture is the fastest growing form of food production in the world, and most of this growth is offshore and overseas. Seafood imports are the second biggest contributor to the U.S. trade deficit -- almost $9 billion per year. Major aquaculture-exporting nations include China, India, and Vietnam.

ASA supports research on plant-based feeds to position soy as the economically viable and environmentally friendlier alternatives to fish meal and fish oil. Since 1992, soybean farmers have funded market development activities for soy-based aquaculture diets, primarily in China. This program has increased demand for soybean meal for farm-raised fish from almost zero to an estimated 6 million metric tons annually, contributing to China’s emergence as the largest market for U.S. soybean exports and soy’s role as the largest U.S. agricultural export.

Soybean meal is a nutritional, high-protein source of aquafeed. Soy-based aquafeeds provide a product that is free of organic and inorganic contaminants that may be found in fish meal based feeds. As global demand for soybean oil for biodiesel continues to increase, soybean meal is likely – given the stability of the supply – to become even more competitive as an aquaculture feedstock.

The Department of Commerce and NOAA released national sustainable marine aquaculture policies in June 2011. One of the programs announced is the implementation of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Plan for Aquaculture, which includes the regulatory infrastructure needed for offshore aquaculture development in the Gulf. ASA applauds the release of the policies and will work toward their implementation.

The Department of Commerce (DOC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are seeking public comment on complementary draft national aquaculture policies that support sustainable marine aquaculture in the United States. The intent of the policy is to guide Commerce and NOAA’s actions and decisions on aquaculture and to provide a national approach for supporting sustainable aquaculture. While there has been a slight shift in emphasis toward jobs and the economic well-being of coastal communities, the path toward streamlining the regulatory hurdles to an economically as well as environmentally sustainable a domestic marine aquaculture industry in the EEZ (U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone) is not clear. What is clear in the draft policies is the importance of alternative feeds research and environmental monitoring to provide a basis for developing regulations.