On May 7, 2020, the White House issued an Executive Order (E.O.) on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth (E.O. 13921), which requires the Secretary of Commerce to identify geographic areas containing locations suitable for commercial aquaculture, and complete a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for each area to assess the impact of siting aquaculture facilities there. This includes:
These geographic areas will be referred to as Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) once the PEIS is complete. The 3-year process to identify and complete a PEIS for each AOA will result in the identification of a geographic area that, through scientific analysis and public engagement, is determined to be environmentally, socially, and economically suitable for aquaculture. The areas identified as AOAs will have characteristics that are expected to be able to support multiple aquaculture farm sites of varying types, but all portions of the AOA may not be appropriate for aquaculture or for all types of aquaculture. NOAA has selected Federal waters within the Gulf of Mexico and off Southern California, south of Point Conception, as the regions where the first two AOAs will be located. By combining input received through consultation and coordination with Federal and non-Federal stakeholders, public comments, and spatial modeling by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) that is based on the best available science , NOAA will further define those areas.
NOAA will provide updates on our progress towards identifying the first two geographic areas containing locations suitable for commercial aquaculture, planning for the NEPA PEIS for each of those two areas, and the upcoming opportunities for input into the process.