Increasing the supply of safe, sustainably produced domestic seafood is a priority for the Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) . Globally, bivalve shellfish culture has been very successful in producing high value seafood with limited environmental impacts. However, the current complexities and costs associated with US aquaculture permitting represent significant barriers to industry expansion. Over the past six years, Ventura Port District and its volunteer partners have sought to establish the Ventura Shellfish Enterprise (VSE) project, a new offshore mussel farm in federal waters that would eliminate or reduce these permitting hurdles for private shellfish companies. The project is designed to accommodate turnkey participation by members of the Ventura working waterfront community via pre-permitted parcels for mussel culture . Working in collaboration with NOAA and other regulatory agencies, a number of tools have been developed that can assist private shellfish companies that may want to establish a farm in the Santa Barbara Channel or elsewhere in California.
Deliverables executed by the Ventura Port District, its volunteer partners, and consultant team to support this permitting effort include: a comprehensive permitting analysis ; d etailed permit applications; c omprehensive siting analyses developed by NOAA's National Ocean Service to minimize conflicts among marine uses; engineering analyses and optimization studies to assure that the selected longline gear can endure 100-year storm events; a navigational risk assessment requested by the U.S. Coast Guard ; a detailed Operations Plan including a biological assessment, draft mitigation plan, and draft monitoring/reporting plans; detailed economic analysis of the benefits of offshore aquaculture; and the project pro-forma. Project efforts include extensive public outreach and collaboration with NOAA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure compliance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) and Seafood Sanitation Inspection Program (SSIP) guidelines, including an ongoing sentinel study .
This presentation will discuss the lessons learned during this process as Ventura Port District engaged in outreach with key stakeholders, such as commercial fishing interests and environmental NGOs, and addressed concerns raised by regulatory agencies. The presentation also will provide a broad overview of the tools developed during this process and how they can be utilized by private aquaculture companies; upgrades to the Ventura Harbor infrastructure to support aquaculture; and recent sentinel data confirming that the Santa Barbara Channel provides a superb growing area for offshore aquaculture.