California is poised to be a leader in contributing to the 10 million new green jobs that President Biden seeks, and an expanding marine aquaculture sector can be part of that green jobs growth . Data show that California is among the U.S. states with the greatest potential to support a robust marine aquaculture sector. The state was also recently granted an unprecedented opportunity by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to participate in a pilot project to support science-based zoning for responsible marine aquaculture. California has a unique opportunity to leverage these strengths and opportunities to integrate marine aquaculture into its economic recovery and aggressive climate action strategies. Unfortunately, California’s permitting system often stifles growth by forcing applicants to navigate an uncertain, laborious, lengthy, duplicative and very costly labyrinth of state and local barriers. These same barriers even hamper conservation aquaculture projects designed to help restore or enhance local ecosystems. While many of these barriers have been identified, discussed among stakeholders, and brought to attention of regulators and policy makers, there has not yet been an effort to methodically collect, synthesize, and aggregate experiences and stories from farmers, researchers, and others seeking permits for marine aquaculture production in California.
The Aquarium of the Pacific’s Seafood for the Future (SFF) program, in collaboration with CEA Consulting and a small group of stakeholders, is coordinating a project, titled: Cutting the Blue Tape for Marine Aquaculture in California. The project is designed to better understand the permitting barriers and identify opportunities to support a more efficient permitting process for conservation and commercial marine aquaculture in the state. Preliminary results from a series of case studies conducted for the project are providing a clearer picture of specific areas and actors in the permitting process that pose the greatest challenges. More importantly, the results from the case studies are providing greater clarity on potential solutions and how to best achieve them.