Farming the Oceans: Opportunities and Regulatory Challenges for U.S. Marine Aquaculture Development

In many parts of the world, including the United States, overfishing has depleted wild fish stocks. Several oceanic regions adjacent to the U.S. are already being fished to their maximum sustainable potential. The World Bank projects a nearly 50% increase in worldwide food fish consumption between 2006 and 2030. The U.S. alone will likely need an additional 15 million tons of food fish by the end of the century. Open ocean aquaculture, also known as mariculture, offers a means of supplementing fish supplies to meet demand and reduce pressure on wild stocks. With new health guidelines recommending increased consumption of fish, many governments have facilitated an aquaculture industry as a means of providing inexpensive, high-quality, year-round protein, benefitting the health of those in low-income households in particular.