Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 9/28/20

Environmentalists are taking aim at a new bipartisan Senate bill that would direct NOAA to set national standards for offshore aquaculture operations and to set up R&D grants for innovation in the sector.

“Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production sector, but the U.S. lacks a comprehensive, nationwide permitting system for federal waters,” said Senate Commerce Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who filed the bill last week with Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). The lack of a federal framework is a significant obstacle for aquaculture farms, forcing the U.S. to import more seafood to meet domestic demand, Wicker said in a statement.

— Across the Capitol: House Ag Chair Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) filed similar legislation earlier this year.

But the environmental group Friends of the Earth is warning that allowing more “industrial finfish farming facilities” will threaten coastal ecosystems. “This form of aquaculture uses giant floating net pens and cages that allow pollution, like excess feed, fish waste and chemicals, to flow freely into open waters,” the group said in a statement.

The industry group Stronger America Through Seafood maintains that aquaculture is “one of the most resource-efficient methods of producing animal protein.” Expanding the sector would complement wild-caught fish to meet the growing U.S. demand for seafood and would also benefit farmers who could sell more of their crops to make fish feed for aquaculture operations, according to SATS.