Wednesday November 20, 2024
SeafoodSource —
NOAA Fisheries has proposed 14 locations along the southern coast of California and in the Gulf of Mexico to establish aquaculture opportunity areas (AOAs), which are locations that have been evaluated as suitable sites for future aquaculture development.
“With climate change posing risks to America’s food security, aquaculture offers a pathway to grow climate resilience,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said in a statement. “Identifying areas suitable for sustainable aquaculture is a forward-looking step toward strengthening climate-smart food systems.”
NOAA Fisheries began work on evaluating potential AOAs in 2020, following an executive order from then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who charged the agency with establishing 10 AOAs by 2025.
On 15 November, NOAA Fisheries released two draft programmatic environmental impact statements proposing 10 AOAs in Eouthern California – eight in the Santa Barbara Channel and two in Santa Monica Bay – three AOAs in Texas, and one AOA in Louisiana. Each site is between 500 acres and 2,000 acres.