California’s agriculture industry annually produces about $50 billion in farm gate value growing over 350 commodities and employing from 500 to 800 thousand farm workers. However, the State’s aquaculture industry only produces around $100 million annually. Considering the length of its coastline, the size of its population and its status as a major farm producer, the State’s marine aquaculture industry is limited by the lack of political and regulatory vision, environmental insight and economic commitment.
In May 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Sustainable Oceans Act (SB 201), the intent of which was for the State to develop a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) that would guide the development of marine farming, including finfish, along California’s coast. SB 201 mandated the PEIR, but 15 years later, there has still not been a draft PEIR available for public review even though the Department of Fish and Wildlife has expended close to one million dollars to develop the document. Recently, California developed a policy, contrary to SB 201, that would limit marine farming to only seaweeds and shellfish and the development of finfish farming in land-based, Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS).
This limitation is contrary to the reality of what America consumes. Of the almost $20 billion of seafood imports annually, seaweed is less the 0.3% of that value, while finfish (salmon and others) averages around $6 billion, or 46% of import value. If we are going to feed America, we need to grow what America wants to eat. Constraining marine finfish farming to only land-based systems significantly limits opportunity and puts more pressure on already impacted coastal areas and energy resources. There are many examples of finfish sustainably grown domestically and internationally in marine pens, with de minimis impacts to the environment, and these fish are readily available in U.S. markets, including California.
If we are to reap the Blue Economy benefits of marine farming to sustain coastal communities and minimize impacts to global warming, then we cannot forego the opportunity for using small tracts of the open ocean to grow a significant portion of our Nation’s animal protein needs. As a center for global innovation, California should not limit finfish farming to RAS farms, but rather encourage marine aquaculture for finfish, shellfish and seaweed using effectively demonstrated technologies for both the nearshore and offshore environments.