NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is seeking comments by Monday, Aug. 1 on its intention to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement to evaluate alternatives for identifying one or more Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
In announcing the request for comments, NMFS noted that the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science undertook a marine spatial planning exercise that resulted in the identification of nine areas that may be suitable for AOAs in the Gulf of Mexico.
A draft PEIS is expected in Fall 2023, with a final PEIS anticipated in Spring 2024.
