August 6, 2024

US bill introduced to prevent rapid approval of offshore fishfish aquaculture

The US representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district, Mary Sattler Peltola, recently introduced the Domestic Seafood Production Act (DSPA) legislation to help address food security in communities historically reliant on coastal and marine resources by helping them build seafood processing capacity for local use.

However, Peltola's bill would also prevent rapid offshore finfish aquaculture permitting and its impact on the environment and local ecosystems by prohibiting permitting or construction of offshore fish farms in US Federal waters in the absence of Congressional authorisation. The bill encourages research on the effects of finfish aquaculture on the ecosystem and potential offshore locations that may be least impactful to the marine environment and commercially important fish stocks.

"In Alaska, so many communities rely on fish and seafood production both for subsistence and good-paying jobs," said Rep. Peltola. "My bill would support our local fishing and maritime communities while strengthening our domestic seafood supply chain."

Earlier this year, Peltola introduced the Bycatch Reduction and Mitigation Act, aimed at investing in new technology to help fishermen reduce their bycatch.

Peltola also introduced the Fisheries Improvement and Seafood Health (FISH) Act, which would create a Fisheries and Ecological Resilience programme to help increase fisheries resilience through coordinated data collection, innovative management tools, and cross-agency and Fishery Management Council collaboration. It would also mandate a GAO study on US seafood competitiveness in international markets and a separate study to assess federal programmes that support domestic seafood production.

- Perishable News.com