US needs to step up aquaculture game

Coming off the Seafood Expo Global in Brussels earlier this month, aquaculture seems to be the trending topic.

Two SeafoodSource contributors used their weekly commentaries to discuss Maria Damanaki’s call at the expo for an increase in European aquaculture, and it got me thinking, where is the call for growth in the U.S. aquaculture industry going to come from?

A compelling case can be made for growing more seafood in the U.S. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, while the worldwide amount of wild seafood has stayed the same year-to-year, there has been consistent increase in aquaculture production. The U.S. is the leading importer of fish, with 91 percent of the seafood we eat originating abroad — half of which is from aquaculture. Driven by imports, the U.S. seafood trade deficit has grown to more than USD 11.2 billion (EUR 8.2 million) annually.

In addition, the Food and Agriculture Organization released “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2014” report, stating that while global aquaculture production reached another all-time high of 90.4 million metric tons (MT) in 2012, the U.S reduced aquaculture output in recent years, mainly due to competition from countries with lower production costs. The U.S. is credited with the overall production fall in North America, only producing 400,000 MT in 2012, down from its peak of 600,000 MT in 2004.

The formation of The Coalition of U.S. Seafood Producers (CUSP) was announced in February of this year, which aims to provide expertise and support of government action that will create growth in aquaculture development. At the time, the group said Congress had never heard of a need for aquaculture development before.

Steven Hart, executive director of the Soy Aquaculture Alliance, told SeafoodSource having the ability to work in federal waters in a major hang-up for U.S. aquaculture and one of the issues CUSP is dealing with by trying to establish commercial scale demonstration projects.

“There are not a lot of large-scale success stories, even globally most aquaculture production is very small mom-and-pop farms and that model will not work in the U.S.,” Hart said.

Hart said the Office of Science and Technology Policy is very supportive of trying to develop U.S. domestic aquaculture industry and correct the trade imbalance with aquaculture and the food safety issues to go with the U.S. not being able to supply its own seafood.

While catching up to the production levels of other countries is still years away, it’s good to know that the U.S. government is now aware of the need for the increase and is on board with making it happen.