In furtherance of efforts to identify “Aquaculture Opportunity Areas” as directed under the 2020 Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, NOAA today announced the release of two Atlases developed by the agency’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science using over 200 data layers that identify nine areas in the Gulf of Mexico and ten areas in the Southern California Bight that might be suitable for aquaculture. NOAA underscored that the decision to identify an Aquaculture Opportunity Area will only be made following completion of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo said that the Atlases will help to “sustainably support the Blue Economy,” with National Ocean Service Asst. Administrator Nicole LeBoeuf calling them “the most advanced spatial analysis ever performed for any U.S. ocean regions” that “will help advance food security…and improve sustainable food production.”
The Atlases state that the spatial analysis included in each “provide[] the most comprehensive spatial modeling” for the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California Bight to date. The Gulf of Mexico Atlas specifically noted that “the methods and models aim to significantly improve the next generation of MSP providing support far beyond aquaculture development by unleashing the power of large datasets and spatial analytics for shipping and navigation, national security and military strategy, offshore energy exploration, identification of marine protected areas, and burgeoning sectors of the ocean economy (e.g., wind or space commerce),” with the modeling approaches and data products “useful for other marine planning efforts within the Gulf of Mexico but also elsewhere in the U.S.”
Elsewhere, the Atlases cited establishment of Wind Energy Areas and planning associated with offshore oil and natural gas leasing as examples of marine spatial planning in the United States, also noting that the 30×30 initiative to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters “will require a broad application of spatial planning across our terrestrial, aquatic, and marine resources for improved conservation and management actions.”
