American lobster ( Homarus americanus ), Jonah crab ( Cancer borealis ), and other fixed-gear fisheries operating in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Maine through Southern New England have been subject to new regulations to reduce entanglement risk of the endangered North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ). A Fixed-Gear Fishery Layer (FGFL) was constructed alongside a Decision Support Tool (DST) to help stakeholders and managers weigh alternative management options and to achieve risk reduction thresholds. Risk of the FGFL was based largely on the overlap of commercial fisheries with a North Atlantic right whale habitat density model. As offshore aquaculture develops in U.S. waters, the DST and FGFL present an opportunity to model both the design and placement of aquaculture facilities in a manner that reduces (1) entanglement risk for protected species and (2) conflict with fixed-gear fisheries. To demonstrate this, we used the dimensions and gear configurations for a proposed kelp farm to develop a baseline Kelp Aquaculture Layer (KAL), mirroring the FGFL structure. Co-occurrence with both the FGFL and North Atlantic right whale habitat density model were then estimated. This work demonstrates a functional method for aquaculture project proposals to plan and mitigate conflicts with current ocean use industries as well as to reduce the potential for additional entanglement risk of protected and endangered species.