Sustainable Marine Aquaculture: Fulfilling The Promise; Managing The Risks, a new report from Marine Aquaculture Task Force, states that the Congress should enact legislation to ensure that strong environmental standards are in place to regulate the siting and conduct of offshore marine aquaculture.
The Task Force is an independent panel of leaders from scientific, policymaking, business, and conservation institutions. Also, they have suggested that the federal government should provide funding and incentives for research, development, and deployment of technologies, and techniques for sustainable marine aquaculture.
Aquaculture is the farming of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants, and it accounts for nearly one half of all seafood consumed in the world today. The industry is growing rapidly as wild fish stocks decline. The Task Force—organized by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and The Lenfest Foundation—was charged with examining the risks and benefits of marine aquaculture and developing a set of national policy recommendations to guide future development of our oceans.