The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Regional Office and the Western Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) are working to establish an aquaculture management program
in the Pacific Islands Region (PIR). We will present an overview of the current and potential future system for permitting aquaculture in Federal waters of the PIR.
Aquaculture in Federal waters in the PIR is not currently subjected to management oversight, with limited exceptions. This current situation increases the potential for the development and proliferation of unmanaged aquaculture operations in federal waters in the PIR. NMFS national and regional priorities seek to increase opportunities for sustainable aquaculture to promote safe, sustainable, seafood production. Aquaculture operations could supplement wild-caught fish, increase food security, reduce reliance on seafood imports, and provide economic opportunity and job creation.
The first steps in developing a program included preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to support early planning for a future management program and to evaluate the potential effects of alternative management provisions under consideration. The final PEIS was published in September 2022 and can be viewed here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/NOAA-NMFS-2021-0044-0003/.
NMFS and the Council are now preparing a draft management plan for publication in 2025 and will be seeking public comments once it is published. If approved, aquaculture in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ or Federal waters) around the U.S. Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands would be managed under the Council’s Fishery Ecosystem Plans (FEPs) and their implementing regulations.
The proposed aquaculture management program is being designed to regulate, manage, and
promote the development of an environmentally sound and economically sustainable
aquaculture industry in Federal waters of the PIR. The program would enable NMFS and the
Council to provide enhanced planning, coordination, and oversight of aquaculture in PIR Federal waters, and is intended to help provide operational stability and maintain Council and NMFS commitments to sustainable and environmentally sound fisheries management.