: In early 2025, NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) announced a 30-day public comment period on the preliminary results of the marine spatial planning study including the identification of Draft Aquaculture Opportunity Area (AOA) Options in Alaska state waters through a Notice of Availability (NOA). The Alaska Draft AOA Options occur within the 10 AOA study areas.
NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) collaborated with NMFS to initiate a marine spatial planning study to identify Draft AOA Options within state waters of the Southeast, Southcentral, and Southwest Alaska as part of the AOA identification process. The preliminary result of the marine spatial planning study used a scoring and ranking process to narrow the suitability analysis results to Draft AOA Options that have high relative suitability scores. In Alaska, the Draft AOA Options include areas:
All Draft AOA Options occur within Alaska state waters (<3nm from shore) up to 61 m (200ft) depth; and meet identified species environmental tolerances and gear thresholds.
The NOA requests comments regarding the features, activities, mitigations or concerns within or around the Alaska Draft AOA Options.
This presentation highlights the process of identifying AOAs in Alaska state waters, and the new step on gathering public feedback on the preliminary results of the spatial analysis and Draft AOA Options. This feedback will help inform NOAA as it works with Federal, State, and Local agencies, appropriate Regional Fishery Management Councils, and in coordination with appropriate Tribal governments to identify AOAs.