By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Europe, Asia and Africa outpace the United States in aquaculture production, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assoc. (NOAA) have removed one of the hurdles slowing progress here.

The two agencies recently announced national sustainable marine aquaculture policies to address “the growing demand for healthy seafood, create jobs in coastal communities and restore vital ecosystems.” While the guidelines are aimed primarily at offshore aquaculture raised in huge floating pens in the ocean, on-shore aquaculture producers such as those in the Midwest are watching the issue closely.

Paul Brown, a Purdue University aquaculture researcher, said the new rules could reduce the risk for offshore aquaculture.

“Risk in aquaculture is comparatively high, but risk is always significant in farm country. It’s something farmers deal with all the time,” he said.

In this case, the risk of most concern is the spread of disease that could develop in enclosed pens, and the possibility it could spread to the wild ocean. The DOC and NOAA said the ultimate goal is to create “a level playing field for U.S. aquaculture businesses engaged in international trade, working to remove foreign trade barriers and enforcing our rights under U.S. trade agreements.”
Working with the government on the issue is the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA), which stated foreign aquaculture accounts for about half of the 84 percent of seafood imported into this country. It said that contributes $9 billion to the trade deficit.

“We urge NOAA to move forward with an action plan to expeditiously advance fish production in federal waters,” reads a statement from the ASA.

The guidelines also provide that NOAA be in charge of all aquaculture done offshore and the DOC to oversee all on-shore aquaculture.

Aquaculture has been part of U.S. food production since 1860, said Brown, but it’s never been a big part. It took off in the 1970s and 1980s when cash-strapped cotton farmers in the South began converting their fields into catfish farms.

“That was a pretty big market and for a while, every white tablecloth restaurant in the nation was featuring catfish on the menu,” said Brown.
But that market eventually ebbed, and only in recent months has serious talk about aquaculture expansion begun once again. Chris Weeks, an aquaculture specialist at Michigan State University, said while the new NOAA rules won’t have much of an impact in the Midwest, the on-shore market could be improved if states worked together.

“Right now the interstate transport of live fish is difficult because of the different state regulations,” said Weeks. “There is no effort to coordinate those rules. It can be done, but it’s complicated and takes a lot of time.”
Just like livestock or row crop farmers, aquaculture farmers are going to have to make sure their operations are insured. The new NOAA rules will help insurers figure out what clients need, but it’s still an evolving business.
David Albaum of GNW Evergreen Insurance Services in Encino, Calif., is one of the few companies in the U.S. involved in aquaculture insurance.
Albaum, a co-founder of the agency, said, “Most growers are not aware of the many insurance options and risk mitigation strategies available to help manage their financial risk of loss. (We) will work with growers directly, as well as assist selected agents throughout the country in the placement of their clients’
coverage needs.”

Before creating the aquaculture unit, he visited aquaculture operations around the world and throughout the U.S. He became interested in aquaculture eight to 10 years ago when he saw figures that showed a future decline in the wild fish harvest from the world’s oceans.

“The wild stocks are declining and the demand is rising,” Albaum said, adding in order to meet the demand for seafood, more aquaculture operations are needed around the world.

“On-shore, it’s pretty straightforward. Farmers build facilities on land they own or lease, but the challenge with offshore is, who controls the ocean? Who gives producers permits? Will it be state entities or will it be NOAA?”
Albaum described the new regulations announced by NOAA and the DOC as “groundbreaking.”

“For the first time, the feds are putting their imprint on aquaculture. I think it’s great if it sorts things out a little bit. But if all it does is add another layer of regulation, then that’s bad.”

He said there are political issues to consider regardless of whether aquaculture is done off- or on-shore. Offshore, the huge cages in which fish are raised is a flash point for environmentalists.

“Concentrating a lot of fish together like that is an efficient way to raise them, but people don’t like seeing those cages out in the open ocean. On-shore, when a non-native species is introduced, there is always the concern that they will escape – and they always escape,” said Albaum, pointing to the Asian carp as a classic example.

He said GNW Evergreen is prepared to write policies to cover those issues, but also concerns involving product recall and liability. Those haven’t been big concerns yet, but at some point it could happen, he said.

“We’re in the risk management business, so we work with growers to help them reduce their risk in production,” said Albaum.

For the future, he said aquaculture is going to have to define itself: “Are the people involved in it farmers or are they growers? There is a growing movement for the industry to create its own standards.”

In order for aquaculture to develop a sustainable business model in the U.S., Albaum said those questions will need to be addressed.