On September 3, 2009, NOAA announced its intent to develop a comprehensive national policy for sustainable marine aquaculture in the coming months, providing a framework for addressing aquaculture activity in federal waters.

The national policy also will provide context for the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Regulating Offshore Aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico, which also took effect on September 3rd.

“We will develop a national policy that focuses on the protection of ocean resources and marine ecosystems, addresses the fisheries management issues posed by aquaculture, and allows U.S. aquaculture to proceed in a sustainable way,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D.,  under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA Administrator. The national policy will build on NOAA’s significant work to date to safeguard U.S. coastal and ocean environments, while enabling sustainable domestic aquaculture that adds to the U.S. seafood supply and supports important commercial and recreational fisheries. The policy also will include development of coordinated federal standards for permitting aquaculture facilities in federal waters and strategies to provide the scientific information needed for permitting decisions.

Domestic U.S. aquaculture is a safe and critical component of the U.S. seafood supply. A more robust sustainable aquaculture industry will increase the locally grown seafood supply and provide new economic opportunities for U.S. coastal communities. Currently, 84 percent of the U.S. seafood supply is imported, and about half of those imports are from aquaculture.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recommended its plan to NOAA earlier this year as a way to provide a structured regional approach for potential aquaculture operations in Gulf of Mexico federal waters.  Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, if the Secretary of Commerce, acting through NOAA, does not notify the council within a certain time period that he has approved, partially approved, or disapproved the action, the statute provides that the plan shall take effect. Because the statutory period has passed without Secretarial action, the Gulf of Mexico Aquaculture FMP has entered into effect by operation of law. Although the plan took effect, implementing regulations must be published before permits can be issued under the plan.

Some have argued that NOAA should reject the plan outright on the grounds that NOAA lacked jurisdictional authority to regulate aquaculture in federal waters. However, NOAA's longstanding position has been that existing federal fisheries laws provide adequate authority to regulate aquaculture. Rejecting the plan on the grounds of a lack of authority would have created an unacceptable regulatory gap in which no agency would have the ability to address both the environmental and fishery concerns regarding aquaculture operations, potentially allowing significant expansion in federal waters. 

“Our options in a case like this are very limited and I believe this is the best approach to the situation,” said Lubchenco. “This plan is far broader in scope than any aquaculture measures previously submitted for Secretarial review. We believe that permitting plans of this scope should be governed by a national policy. In the absence of a consistent national policy, it was not prudent to take action on the plan at this time.”

“The Gulf council’s plan raised important issues of national policy for how offshore aquaculture should be regulated,” said Jim Balsiger, acting NOAA assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “NOAA will work closely with the Gulf council and Congress to ensure a smooth transition to a national approach for regulating offshore aquaculture activities.”

On the Web:
Aquaculture information: http://aquaculture.noaa.gov
or http://aquaculture.noaa.gov/news/welcome.html#natlpolicy
for more specifics of this announcement.

6^th International Symposium on

Hosted by the American Fisheries Society - Fish Health Section

  Tampa, Florida, USA

5 - 9 September 2010

ABSTRACT DEADLINE:  JULY 15, 2010

The 6^th International Symposium on Aquatic Animal Health will be held at the beautiful Marriott Waterside Hotel, in Tampa, Florida. The symposium provides a forum for presentation of research, management, and policy issues related to the health of a broad range of aquatic animals, including wild, farmed and exhibited species. Four days of scientific sessions include plenary lectures, special topic sessions, oral presentations, a dedicated half-day poster session, a student workshop, and a diagnostic challenges session.

Previous international symposia on aquatic animal health have attracted up to 425 participants from 35 countries. Numerous national and international aquatic animal health organizations, including the National Shellfisheries Association, will support, and will contribute to, ISAAH-6.

Tampa is a great city with an excellent international airport. Base hotel room rates are $129 USD, single or double, for September 1-12.  Registration, abstract submission, travel grant applications, and hotel reservations, will be available spring 2010. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information, visit the symposium webpage:
http://aquaticpath.epi.ufl.edu/isaah6

or contact the symposium organizers:

Dr. Andrew Kane (kane@ufl.edu) and Dr. Sarah Poynton (spoynton@jhmi.edu)

Sit back and enjoy a discussion of NSA history by several of NSA's elder statespersons.  The Centennial Roundtable was held on April 9, 2008 as part of the 100th NSA Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island.  Moderated by Susan Ford.

NSA met in Savannah, Georgia for the 101st Annual Meeting. Program Chair LeRoy Creswell put together a diverse program with 3 concurrent sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and with 4 concurrent sessions on Thursday. The complete program is still available online at shellfish.org/101stAnnualMeeting

More than 250 individuals attended throughout the week to hear 23 technical sessions that included nearly 200 oral and over 50 poster presentations! Adding to the typical fare of talks on molluscan shellfish were daily concurrent sessions on crustaceans and a novel session on shellfish archeology. NOAA sponsored a session on shellfish and the environment and additional financial sponsorship provided by Maryland DNR, Florida Sea Grant, Georgia Sea Grant , Mississippi/Alabama Sea Grant , South Carolina Sea Grant, and Virginia Sea Grant enabled us to provide travel awards to nearly 20 students. We thank you all!

Sunday evening began with a wonderful display of shrimp, clams and oysters generously donated by Taylor Shellfish Farms Inc, Little Skookum Shellfish LLC, Baywater Inc, Louisianna Oyster Dealers and Growers Association, Georgia Marine Extension Service, Cedar Key Aquaculture Association,Pemaquid Oyster Company, and the Ocean State Shellfish Cooperative.

Monday evening was fabulous! NSA sponsored a Low Country Boil at Historic Fort Jackson, and the East Coast ShellfishGrowers Association sponsored "Romancing the Clam" at Bryson Hall in Savannah. The food was stellar at both events and the company was even better.

We had a rousing time at Tuesday's Student Endowment Fund Auction with our multi-talented Sandy Shumway as Auctioneer. As many of you know, Sandy appears 'in costume' at the auction - this year it was Miss Sandy as Southern Belle! The Auction raised a record $4200+ for the SEF. Thanks to all who participated, especially those who donated items to be auctioned.

We held our Annual Business Luncheon on Wednesday. Sandy Shumway received the David H. Wallace Award and Gene Burreson received the Honored Life Member Award. Dave Bushek handed over the gavel to incoming President Joth Davis. Look for updates on the website to the officers and committee chair assignments in the next few days.

The 101st meeting concluded at noon on Thursday. Student presentations appeared throughtout the week so stay tuned to hear which students earned Thurlow Nelson and Gordon Gunter awards for making outstanding presentations during the conference.

We had significant participation in the meeting in spite of the state of the world economy. Thank you to the meeting organizers (particularly Lou D'Abramo, Randy Walker and his local crew, LeRoy Creswell and Karolyn Hansen), the session organizers, and the attendees. We look forward to seeing you in San Diego at Aquaculture 2010, March 1-5.