WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released a draft policy on aquaculture in U.S. waters, saying it balances economics and the environment.
After crude oil and natural gas, seafood is the third-largest contributor to the U.S. trade deficit as the country imports about $9 billion worth each year, AAAS ScienceMag.org reported Wednesday.
Hoping to foster the growth of a U.S. aquaculture industry, NOAA says it will use its $10 million research budget to do more ecological and technological analysis to improve and monitor the environmental sustainability of aquaculture operations.
Although the draft policy contains a fairly detailed research agenda for the agency's scientists, it's lacking in any details of how it plans to regulate the industry -- just suggesting, for example, that it would prefer "only native or naturalized species in federal waters" unless other species are proved to be no threat to the ecosystem.
George Leonard of the Ocean Conservancy in Santa Cruz, Calif., hailed the policy as a positive development, but noted in a statement that "because the policy is largely discretionary there is no guarantee that future fish farms will meet the suite of policy guidelines proposed today."
NOAA says the draft police is open for public comment until April 11.
