Testing the waters: the state of U.S. shellfish permitting regulations
Date
2024-09-05
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Animal Frontiers
Abstract
Implications
- Permitting and regulatory hurdles are still major barriers to aquaculture expansion.
- There are tradeoffs between improved regulatory efficiency/economic outcomes and environmental oversight.
- Existing approaches to shellfish permitting have received mixed criticisms, but identifying an optimal approach to permitting reform requires further research.
Introduction
Aquaculture produces roughly half of the seafood consumed worldwide, yet in the United States, the industry remains strikingly limited relative to its potential capacity (Lester et al., 2021). At present, U.S. marine aquaculture (mariculture) consists mostly of small-scale shellfish farming within state waters, with some states boasting well-established shellfish industries and others having entered the industry in earnest only in the last decade. As states deploy a diverse range of strategies to foster and govern their nascent industries, their experiences can yield valuable insights as to how regulations can best balance industry growth with environmental protection.
Description
This article was originally published in Animal Frontiers Published by Oxford University Press. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfae016.
Copyright © 2024 American Society of Animal Science.
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Keywords
aquaculture, mariculture, marine spatial planning, per- mitting, shellfish
Citation
Benjamin M Hurley, Kimberly L Oremus, Anna M Birkenbach, Testing the waters: the state of U.S. shellfish permitting regulations, Animal Frontiers, Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2024, Pages 28–31, https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfae016