As is the case every 5 years or so, there is another aquaculture push within the Federal government. It looks like this will be a very process-rich endeavor (check out the list of “Scoping Information Needs“), so don’t expect much soon.
NOAA Fisheries is conducting public scoping for a programmatic environmental impact statement to consider identifying one or more AOAs in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The programmatic environmental impact statement will evaluate the impacts and benefits associated with siting aquaculture in those locations, which could occur through future proposals and project level review. Public scoping is an opportunity for the public to provide input on the range of issues to be addressed in the programmatic environmental impact statement. This is a planning effort and no specific aquaculture-related activities or individual aquaculture projects are being proposed at this time.
NOAA FIsheries
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 