NOAA Releases Draft National Aquaculture Policy for Public Comment

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking public comment on a draft policy to enable the development of sustainable marine aquaculture within the context of NOAA’s stewardship missions and broader social and economic goals. Use the form below to submit your comment. The deadline for submitting public comment on the draft policy is midnight Eastern on April 11, 2011. All comments received before that date - online, via fax, or hard copy - will be posted below.

Materials

• NOAA's Draft National Aquaculture Policy (pdf)
• 1-Pager on NOAA Policy (pdf)
• Joint Press Release
• Click Here to Make a Comment

Background Information

The draft policy provides guidance for NOAA’s actions regarding all forms of marine aquaculture, from shellfish farming and habitat restoration to the culture of marine fish and algae on land and offshore. The draft policy features:

• A reaffirmation of the importance of aquaculture
• An overarching policy statement to guide agency actions
• A set of updated agency priorities to implement the policy through initiatives in four areas:
  1. Science and research
  2. Regulation
  3. Innovation, partnerships and outreach and
  4. International cooperation
• Detailed principles for aquaculture in federal waters.

The draft policy responds to public input submitted to NOAA at the listening sessions held in 2010 by emphasizing the protection of wild species, acknowledging the importance of sound science, and taking other suggestions into account. It also affirms that sustainable U.S. marine aquaculture is vital to the U.S. seafood supply, the economic vitality of coastal communities, and the maintenance of working waterfronts.

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How to Submit a Comment

You may type your comment into the form below and/or upload a separate document. Supporting documents, links, etc., are welcome as long as they are pertinent to the policy. The deadline for submitting public comments is April 11, 2011. Click here to submit a comment. Also note the Commenting Guidelines listed below.

Comments may also be submitted by fax or mail (these will also be posted online):

• Via fax: (301) 713-9108 (Attn: Susan Bunsick, NOAA Aquaculture Program)
• Via mail: NOAA Aquaculture Program, Attn: Susan Bunsick, 1315 East-West Highway, SSMC#3-13th Floor Rm. 13152, Silver Spring, MD 20910

This is a Moderated Forum

This means your comments will not appear right away. All comments and attachments will be reviewed based on the commenting guidelines listed below and posted (or not) following that review. If you have a question about the status of your comment, send an email to NOAA.Aquaculture@noaa.gov. Do not submit comments to this email address. Use the comment form below.

Commenting Guidelines

In accordance with NOAA’s Online Privacy Policy, we treat your name, city, state, and any comments you provide as public information. You may enter a comment as ‘anonymous’ if you do not want this information available to the public. Also, supporting documents, links, etc., are welcome as long as they are pertinent to the policy. However, the appearance of external links, advertisements, political opinions, or other comments do not constitute endorsement by NOAA or that of the U.S. Government.

While this is a public process, NOAA will not post content that meets the following criteria:

• Contains vulgar language, personal attacks of any kind, threats, obscenity, or offensive terms that target specific ethnic or racial groups;
• Promotes services or products (non-commercial links that are relevant to the comment are acceptable);
• Are far off-topic (i.e., not pertinent to the draft policy); or
• Make unsupported accusations.

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