On May 7, 2020, the White House issued an Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth (EO 13921), which requires the Secretary of Commerce to identify geographic areas containing locations suitable for commercial aqua
National Overview
On May 7, 2020, the White House issued an Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth (E.O. 13921), which directs the Secretary of Commerce to identify geographic areas containing locations suitable for commercial aquaculture. The purpose of the proposed action is to apply a science-based approach to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in Federal waters. An AOA is a defined geographic area that has been evaluated to determine its potential suitability for commercial aquaculture. The goal of identifying AOAs is to promote American seafood competitiveness, food security, economic growth, and support the facilitation of the development of domestic commercial aquaculture, consistent with sustaining and conserving marine resources and applicable laws, regulations and policies.
For more information on AOAs, please visit the Office of Aquaculture’s National AOA page or the National AOA Fact Sheet.
West Coast Region Overview
Following the Executive Order, Southern California was selected as one of the first two regions to identify one or more AOAs. The identification of AOAs in a geographic area is a planning action and does not include any activity that would require a permit or authorization. The proposed action does not create any new regulatory framework or change any existing statutory authority related to offshore marine aquaculture.
The West Coast Region proposes to identify geographically discrete areas within Federal waters off the coast of Southern California that would be suitable to site future aquaculture development. As called for under the National Environmental Policy Act process, a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) will analyze potential impacts to the human environment that may occur should aquaculture projects be proposed in one or more AOAs.
As of May 23, 2022, NOAA Fisheries has published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register announcing the preparation of the Southern California AOA PEIS. As part of this process, we request comments concerning the scope of the proposed action; its potential impacts to the natural and human environment; means for avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating potential impacts; the range of preliminary alternatives proposed in this notice; and any additional reasonable alternatives that should be considered within the Southern California Bight. For information on how to comment on the NOI, please see the public scoping meetings page.
