Environmental Safeguards for Open-Ocean Aquaculture: Expanding Aquaculture Into Federal Waters should Not be Promoted Without Enforceable National Guidelines for the Protection of Marine Ecosystems and Fisheries‪.‬

Because of continued human pressure on ocean fisheries and ecosystems, aquaculture has become one of the most promising avenues for increasing marine fish production. During the past decade, worldwide aquaculture production of salmon, shrimp, tuna, cod, and other marine species has grown by 10% annually; its value, by 7% annually. These rates will likely persist and even rise in the coming decades because of advances in aquaculture technology and an increasing demand for fish and shellfish. Although aquaculture has the potential to relieve pressure on ocean fisheries, it can also threaten marine ecosystems and wild fish populations through the introduction of exotic species and pathogens, effluent discharge, the use of wild fish to feed farmed fish, and habitat destruction. If the aquaculture industry does not shift to a sustainable path soon, the environmental damage produced by intensive crop and livestock production on land could be repeated in fish farming at sea. In the United States, aquaculture growth for marine fish and shellfish has been below the world average, rising annually by 4% in volume and 1% in value. The main species farmed in the marine environment are Atlantic salmon, shrimp, oysters, and hard clams; together they account for about one-quarter of total U.S. aquaculture production. Freshwater species, such as catfish, account for the majority of U.S. aquaculture output.