Aquaculture in New England and the Mid-Atlantic

Our region has a vibrant commercial marine aquaculture industry that commonly farms oysters, mussels, Atlantic salmon, and kelp. In the Greater Atlantic Region, aquaculture is the third most valuable fisheries sector, in terms of economic revenue, behind scallops and American lobster. These operations are supported by a world class research and technology sector. There is great capacity for increased aquaculture production of these species and others in our waters.

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Purposes and Benefits

Aquacultured products are grown for medical research, pharmaceuticals, food and food additives, aquarium commerce, stock enhancement, and ecological restoration. Hatchery-raised species are also grown to support important commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as for habitat and endangered species restoration.

Aquaculture creates employment and business opportunities in coastal communities and provides safe, nutritious, sustainable seafood. It complements NOAA's comprehensive strategy for maintaining healthy and productive marine populations, species, ecosystems, and coastal communities. An important way to meet increasing global demand for seafood, aquaculture supports commercial and recreational fisheries, and restores species and marine habitat.

Permitting Aquaculture Projects

For any proposed aquaculture activity, proponents should contact the US Army Corps of Engineers for current guidance on permitting.  The Guide to Permitting Marine Aquaculture in the United States was crafted to assist individuals with navigating the federal permitting process for marine aquaculture.

If the project is in state waters, proponents should also contact the state marine resource agency. A good place to start is the NOAA Fisheries State Aquaculture Regulatory Inventory Resources which profiles useful information on leasing and permitting requirements for each coastal state.

Federally Permitted Projects

Many projects require federal permitting that may trigger both Endangered Species Act and Essential Fish Habitat consultation requirements, among others. 

NOAA Fisheries Endangered Species Consultation

We work closely with the Army Corps of Engineers, the action agency responsible for Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultation on aquaculture projects that are permitted under section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and/or section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on activities that may affect a listed species. These interagency, or Section 7, consultations are designed to assist federal agencies in fulfilling their duty to ensure any action they authorize, fund, or carry out is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat. In fulfilling these requirements, each agency must use the best scientific and commercial data available. More information on the ESA as it relates to aquaculture is available here. 

NOAA Fisheries Essential Fish Habitat Consultation

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) is the habitat necessary for fish to spawn, breed, feed, or grow to maturity. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, federal agencies must consult with NOAA Fisheries regarding any action authorized, funded, or undertaken, or proposed to be authorized, funded, or undertaken that may adversely affect EFH.

Federal agencies notify NOAA Fisheries when a proposed action may adversely affect EFH or they will provide NOAA Fisheries with an EFH Assessment. NOAA Fisheries will make EFH Conservation Recommendations in response. NOAA Fisheries can offer Conservation Recommendations to state agencies during their review process, though it is not a requirement.

Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a role to manage aquaculture to protect water quality. Please visit their aquaculture focused webpage to learn more.

Regional and State Resources

In addition to the permitting resources, a number of state and regional organizations have aquaculture support or oversight roles. 

• Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center 
• Southern Regional Aquaculture Center
• Northeast Regional Ocean Council
• East Coast Shellfish Growers Aquaculture BMP Manual (2010)
• The Maine Aquaculturist
• Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Habitat Hotline with focus on Marine Aquaculture
• Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council aquaculture resources page 
• New England Fishery Management Council aquaculture resources page

Aquaculture Project Siting 

These resources provide information on geographic based data to inform decisions about siting aquaculture facilities in our region.

• Northeast Ocean Data Portal - The Northeast Ocean Data Portal provides free, user-friendly access to expert-reviewed interactive maps and data on the ocean ecosystem, economy, and culture of the northeastern United States. 
• Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal - The Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal is an online toolkit and resource center that consolidates available data and enables state, federal and local users to visualize and analyze ocean resources and human use information such as fishing grounds, recreational areas, shipping lanes, habitat areas, and energy sites, among others.
• State Aquaculture Planning, Siting, and Regulatory Resources - The documents provided through this linked webpage provide state level information on availability of siting tools managed by states and or regions.
• NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Coastal Aquaculture Siting and Sustainability Program - Providing high quality science, guidance, and technical support to coastal managers to grow sustainable aquaculture while maintaining and improving ecosystem health
  • NOAA’s Coastal Aquaculture Planning Portal - A toolbox of coastal planning tools designed to assist managers, planners, and industry with sustainable aquaculture development.  
    • Protected Species and Marine Aquaculture Interactions (2017) - a unique assessment of potential aquaculture stressors to protected species. 
  • NOAA’s OceanReports - This web-based, report-centric tool provides coastal and ocean planners with a high-level analysis for their custom-drawn area of interest. It provides summary statistics and infographics for six main topics: general information, energy and minerals, natural resources and conservation, oceanographic and biophysical, transportation and infrastructure, and economics and commerce.
  • National AquaMapper - The National AquaMapper provides aquaculture-relevant data for offshore waters of the United States in one easy-to-use map viewer. This tool is designed to support and inform screening of ocean areas for aquaculture through visualization of numerous siting parameters. For any marine location, exploration is now possible via visualization of other existing ocean uses, as well as needed oceanographic parameters.

Additional NOAA Resources

• NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center - The Ecosystems and Aquaculture Division studies the interactions between the environment and marine life. This research supports sustainable wild and farmed fisheries as well as conservation of habitats and protected species in the Northeast Continental Shelf ecosystem off the United States.
• NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture - Fosters responsible aquaculture that provides safe, sustainable seafood; creates employment and business opportunities in coastal communities; and complements NOAA’s comprehensive strategy for maintaining healthy and productive marine populations, ecosystems, and vibrant coastal communities. 
  • NOAA Fisheries Offshore Aquaculture Regulation and Policy
  • NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture Library webpage 
  • NOAA Fisheries resources on National and State Shellfish Initiatives 
  • NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture Opportunity Areas
  • Potential Protected Resources Interactions with Longline Aquaculture (2015)

Guide to Federal Aquaculture Grant and Financial Assistance Services

Contact

For more information contact the Greater Atlantic Region's regional aquaculture coordinator:

• Kevin Madley (978) 282-8494
• Anoushka Concepcion (401) 965-1075