Aquaculture Opportunity Areas: Background and Timeline

NOAA to lead a multi-agency, public planning effort to identify ten Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs).

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Background

Executive Order 13921, Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth (issued May 7, 2020), instructs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to lead a multi-agency, public planning effort to identify ten Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs).

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), on behalf of NOAA, selected the federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico as one of the first geographic regions in which to identify AOAs.

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science initiated a spatial planning process to assist agency decision makers in identifying areas that may be suitable for locating AOAs as mandated by Executive Order 13921. This process was based on spatial suitability modeling that included data layers relevant to administrative boundaries, national security (i.e., military), navigation and transportation, energy and industry infrastructure, commercial and recreational fishing, natural and cultural resources, and oceanography (i.e., non-living resources)

This spatial modeling approach was specific to the planning goal of identifying discrete areas between 500 and 2,000 acres that met the industry and engineering requirements of depth and distance from shore and that may be suitable for all types of aquaculture development including the cultivation of finfish, macroalgae, shellfish, or a combination of species. This work resulted in An Aquaculture Opportunity Atlas for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (Atlas), which identified nine options for potential AOA locations or “AOA options.”

The Atlas is a technical document providing peer-reviewed geospatial planning information that will be used as one source of information to assist the agency in identifying one or more AOAs.

NOAA Fisheries then published a Notice of Intent on June 1, 2022 announcing its intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement and conduct public scoping meetings. This initiated a 60-day public scoping period for the PEIS, which ended on August 1, 2022. Three virtual public scoping meetings were held on June 8, June 16 and July 12, 2022 at which members of the public could submit comments verbally.

To find a copy of the presentation that was given at the meeting, along with transcripts and audio recordings of all three meetings, please visit the Get Involved page.

Written comments were accepted by mail and electronically through the www.regulations.gov website. You can view the written comments that were submitted through the e-Portal website, by going to www.regulations.gov and entering “NOAA-NMFS-2022-0044” in the search box. Click on the link, “Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in Federal Waters of the Gulf of Mexico and To Conduct Public Scoping Meetings” and then click on the “View Related Comments” box.

On May 2, 2023, NOAA Fisheries published a Public Scoping Summary that provides an overview of the 216 verbal and written submissions it received during a 60-day public scoping period in summer 2022. The summary also includes an appendix with all of the verbatim verbal and written submissions.

NOAA Fisheries and its cooperating agencies will consider the public comments received, along with the best available science and any new information related to ocean uses in or around the nine potential locations for AOAs in the Gulf of Mexico, in order to make a determination about how many and which locations will be carried forward and fully analyzed as proposed alternatives in the draft PEIS.

The draft and final programmatic environmental impact statement will then assess the impacts of siting aquaculture facilities in those proposed location alternatives. The draft programmatic environmental impact statement will also be published for public comment and all comments will be considered prior to publication of a final programmatic environmental impact statement.

AOAs may only be identified by NOAA Fisheries after completion of a final programmatic environmental impact statement and issuance of a Record of Decision.