Despite the burgeoning U.S. consumer demand for marine finfish, the overwhelming majority of seafood consumed in this country comes from overseas. The story has remained seemingly unchanged for decades with the vast potential for U.S. aquaculture production of marine finfish facing the reality of failed operations far outweighing the success stories. While every story is unique, upon closer examination the similarities begin to emerge in terms of the key factors associated with the failure of domestic marine finfish operations. In many cases, such factors include species selection and associated issues with systems and/or site selection. Every species of marine fish has a its own unique physiological, biological, behavioral, and market considerations that must be accounted for in the development and operation of commercial marine finfish operations. Operations that thoroughly understand and capitalize on such factors are typically those which end up achieving success in the industry. Factors associated with the selection of marine finfish species for the U.S. aquaculture industry will be presented and discussed, including many considerations that are all too often neglected in both the project development and operational phases of the business. The U.S. has incredible potential for increasing domestic production of marine finfish species across a variety of different types of aquaculture production systems, and the key is to have more commercial success stories in the industry to help unlock this vast potential.