West Coast Region Southern California Aquaculture Opportunity Area

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

West Coast

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.

Aquaculture Opportunity Area Atlas

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) initiated a marine spatial planning process to assist agency decision-makers in identifying areas that may be suitable for locating AOAs as mandated by E.O. 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). The resulting Atlas includes peer-reviewed technical information that may be used to assist agency decision makers in identifying areas that may be suitable for locating AOAs in Federal waters of the Southern California Bight.

Proposed Action and Preliminary Alternatives

The federal action proposed in the PEIS is to identify one or more locations (referred to as AOAs) that may be suitable for multiple future offshore aquaculture projects in Federal waters of the Southern California Bight, and to evaluate the impacts of siting aquaculture in those locations. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Los Angeles District, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) District Eleven, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 will act as cooperating agencies for the purposes of the PEIS. AOAs identified through this process would be considered potentially suitable for finfish, shellfish, macroalgae, or multi-species aquaculture. The proposed action is a long-term planning effort. It is not a regulatory or permitting action.

The NOI identifies four preliminary alternatives we are considering for analysis in the PEIS.

No Action Alternative: no AOA would be identified in Southern California.
Santa Barbara Channel: one or more AOAs would be identified within Federal waters offshore of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Santa Monica Bay: one or more AOAs would be identified within Federal waters offshore of Los Angeles County in Santa Monica Bay.
Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Monica Bay: one or more AOAs would be identified from within the boundaries of either study area in the alternatives analysis, up to a maximum area to be determined by NOAA Fisheries with input from the public.

The NOI continues the scoping process that guides the development of the PEIS. During public scoping, stakeholders will be asked for feedback on the proposed action and preliminary alternatives, along with other topics related to offshore marine aquaculture and resources in Southern California—including, but not limited to, the risks, benefits, capacity, species and gear types, as well as long-term visions for offshore aquaculture development in the region. Comments received during the NOI public comment period will play a key role to help WCR determine the scope, scale, and capacity of the alternatives and analysis within the draft PEIS.