Lobbyists make extra push as time runs short to pass US aquaculture law
Campaigners list ways that United States is missing out due to tortuous permitting system
United States pro-fish farming lobby group Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) is making an extra push for an aquaculture act to be progressed during the current US Congress term.
SATS’ “8 Years, 8 Ways America is Missing Out” campaign highlights the “urgent need” for a clear, predictable federal permitting pathway to expand American aquaculture.
The campaign will run throughout October, coinciding with National Seafood Month, an annual celebration highlighting the importance of sustainable seafood and its value to American communities.
SATS points out that the first open ocean aquaculture demonstration project in US federal waters to receive approval this year spent eight years navigating the permitting process, underscoring the need for a clear federal pathway. The project, planned for the Gulf of Mexico, navigated 12 federal and state agencies to secure approval for a single net pen.
“Eight years for a single net pen is not a pathway to a competitive US aquaculture industry,” SATS said in a press release. “Through ‘8 Years, 8 Ways,’ SATS will spotlight eight ways America is missing out on the benefits of open ocean aquaculture and the opportunities a clear federal permitting pathway would unlock.”
Urgent need
The lobby group’s campaign manager, Drue Banta Winters, said: “There is growing bipartisan recognition in Congress that expanding American aquaculture is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.
“The US has the science, technology and resources to sustainably grow more seafood in our own waters, complement our wild-capture fisheries and strengthen our domestic seafood supply. But eight years to move a single demonstration project through the permitting process underscores why a clear, predictable federal pathway is urgently needed to support growth of US aquaculture.”
During the ‘8 Ways’ campaign, SATS will use its social media channels to spotlight eight areas where the US could benefit from a fit-for-purpose permitting process: seafood production, food security, economic opportunity, coastal communities, US agriculture, innovation and US investment, sustainability and climate resilience, and US competitiveness.
Considered by Congress
The campaign launches as Congress actively considers the bipartisan Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act (Senate no. 2586/ House of Representatives no. 9802) that would establish a science-based framework to advance commercial-scale open ocean aquaculture demonstration projects in US federal waters.
“There has never been a greater opportunity for Congress to give American aquaculture the clear pathway it needs to grow,” Winters concluded. “This is about more than producing more American-raised seafood for American families. It’s also about American jobs, food security, innovation and our ability to compete globally. America can’t afford to wait another year. The time for congressional action is now.”
The US Congress has just over three months to pass the MARA Act in both the House of Representatives and the Senate before the current Congress expires at noon on January 3, 2027.
If that doesn’t happen, the bill times out and must be reintroduced to the new Congress. Previous attempts to pass a bill simplifying aquaculture permitting in the US have timed out.
