California Sea Grant College Program

Approximately 91% of the seafood products sold in the United States are imported, and roughly

half of those imports are produced by aquaculture.5 These seafood imports total 2.45 million

metric tons, 89,000-90,500 metric tons of which is comprised of molluscan shellfish (e.g. oysters,

mussels, clams, and scallops).6 These imports have contributed to a significant seafood trade

deficit, which ballooned to $14 billion in 2016.7 Increased domestic aquaculture production has 

the potential to reduce this reliance on seafood imports, which could result in an estimated

additional 50,000 full-time and part-time jobs8 if United States “offshore” aquaculture production

is doubled.9 Furthermore, it has been suggested by some as a way to reduce the carbon footprint

associated with imported seafood.10

While the potential for increased domestic molluscan shellfish marine aquaculture production11

has been the subject of high-level discussion at federal and state levels, it is not without policy

challenges. Development of commercial marine aquaculture in federal waters of the Exclusive

Economic Zone (EEZ)12 has been constrained for decades by an unclear regulatory process and 

by the technical challenges of operating in an offshore environment.13 These uncertainties have

resulted in limited commercial investment, which federal and state regulatory agencies,

academia, and the industry have partnered to address. An additional challenge faced by the

aquaculture industry is the potential for user conflict in the growing area, such as competition

for space between aquaculture facilities and commercial and recreational fishing,14 which can

arise both during the permitting and operations phases of shellfish aquaculture production.

Though a common problem in both state and federal waters, user conflicts are often more

pronounced in state waters due to the host of recreational (e.g., SCUBA diving and boating) and

commercial uses (e.g., fishing and shipping) that are more prevalent.15 Despite these challenges,

the aquaculture industry continues to explore the option of operating facilities in the federal

waters of the EEZ. One example is Catalina Sea Ranch (CSR), a farm based in Southern

California, that currently farms mussels in the federal waters of the EEZ.