May 25, 2022

US public invited to help shape aquaculture development in Southern California

Members of the public in the United States are invited to help shape Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) and offshore aquaculture development in Southern California.

NOAA Fisheries has published a notice of intent announcing the preparation of the Southern California programmatic environmental impact statement. This seeks to assess the impacts of identifying one or more AOAs in federal waters of the Southern California Bight.

The notice initiates a formal 60-day public scoping period for the programmatic environmental impact statement that will close on July 22. Public comments can be submitted in writing as well as during two virtual public meetings that will be held on June 27 and July 11.

Comments received during scoping will play a key role in helping NOAA Fisheries and its cooperating agencies – including NOAA the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – determine the scope of the programmatic environmental impact statement.

NOAA Fisheries and its federal partners will use feedback from the public – including industry, states, local communities, tribal governments, commercial and recreational fishing organisations, fishery management councils, the environmental NGO community and other key stakeholders – to determine the number and location of alternative AOAs and the range of aquaculture types and systems NOAA evaluates in the statement.

- The Fish Site