Maggie Mascarenhas, SAFSF Public Policy Manager, this past May joined the GRACE Communications Foundation, Don’t Cage Our Oceans, many stakeholders in the fishing community, including members of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, in Savannah, Georgia at the kickoff event for a resource development project known as the Aquaculture Atlas. Later, in July, she joined Don’t Cage Our Oceans, State Innovation Exchange, state legislators from across the U.S., and members of the Duwamish Tribe and Suquamish Tribe in Seattle, Washington to discuss state policy opportunities to wrest seafood production from corporate control and support working waterfronts. Below are her reflections and learnings on the extractive nature of current systems, pathways for change, and opportunities for funders to support more sustainable seafood production. 

The Harms of Offshore Finfish Farming 

Aquaculture refers to the practice of growing aquatic plants, algae, and animals in fresh water, on land, and at sea. It is the fastest-growing food production sector and currently supplies almost 50 percent of seafood for human consumption worldwide. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), aquaculture makes up approximately 7 percent of U.S. seafood production and 24 percent of the overall value of U.S. seafood. 

Like agriculture, aquaculture takes many forms and its impacts vary across the scale of production. Also like agriculture, some forms are grounded in food sovereignty and support local economic development, while others are environmentally extractive and largely controlled by corporations. Offshore carnivorous finfish farming, or open ocean aquaculture, exemplifies the latter. This form of aquaculture is defined by Don’t Cage Our Oceans as, “the mass cultivation of finfish in marine waters in underwater or floating net pens, pods and cages.” The most commonly farmed carnivorous species include Atlantic salmon, sea bream, and sea bass. 

In Savannah, Georgia in May 2024, I joined GRACE Communications Foundation, Don’t Cage Our Oceans, many stakeholders in the fishing community, including members of the Gullah/Geechee Nation to discuss the significant need for clarity and specificity in how we speak about the threats and risks that carnivorous fish farming presents. Proponents of this rapidly-growing industry often tout offshore finfish aquaculture as a solution to global food insecurity and a means to both reduce pressure on wild fish stocks and enable more resource-efficient food consumption. However, as esteemed environmental scientist Dr. Jennifer Jacquet explained during the convening, evidence suggests otherwise. The abstract of her recent paper in Marine Policy explains succinctly, “The fishmeal demands alongside a multitude of other issues, including animal welfare concerns, antibiotic use and resistance, and occupational risks, make it easy to see why the U.S. would continue not to authorize offshore finfish farming, and possibly even enact a moratorium or ban on offshore finfish aquaculture.” 

A few of the additional issues associated with finfish aquaculture include an increase in toxic algal blooms, declining water quality due to microplastics and use of toxic pesticides like Formaldehyde, sea lice infestations of farmed salmon, dangerous interbreeding as a result of fish escapes, and using wild caught fish taken from food insecure nations to create farmed fish food. In sum, treating finfish aquaculture like a silver bullet for sustainable seafood production and consumption would be, at best, to ignore evidence and accept an incomplete narrative. As both convenings made clear, there are alternative paths to sustainable seafood. 

Sustainable, Values-Based Aquaculture in Practice 

Grounded in survey and focus group feedback from stakeholders across partner networks, the North American Marine Alliance’s (NAMA) Aquaculture Values Report outlines eight aspirational values intended to create a framework for farmed seafood that enhances collective missions supporting sustainable, equitable, and accessible seafood systems, fisheries, and ecosystems. These values, in no particular order, are: 

• Food – Aquaculture is essential to the overall seafood supply and is vital for healthy and culturally appropriate food systems.
• Stewardship – Aquaculture production should protect and honor every watershed and ecosystem’s intrinsic ecological value and environmental rhythms on land and at sea.
• Community-Based – Community-based aquaculture enhances the social, ecological, economic, and cultural fabric of our communities and integrates with existing fisheries.
• Access – Aquaculture should provide equitable opportunities for new and diverse participants of all ages, genders, races, cultures, and incomes.
• Equitable Supply Chains – All workers along the seafood supply chain deserve fair living wages, safe working conditions, and work with dignity.
• Place-Based Knowledge – Local and place-based knowledge is necessary to steward aquaculture operations in harmony with the surrounding ecosystems on both land and sea.
• Public Resource – We affirm the public trust doctrine and the unique rights of tribal nations in their traditional homelands.
• Accountability – Fair, transparent, clear, and adequate regulatory planning and enforcement are critical to values-based aquaculture. 

Much like regenerative agriculture, BIPOC communities are the original practitioners of aquaculture steeped in these values. This type of aquaculture notably does not involve farming finfish like salmon, but rather sustainably cultivating and harvesting bivalves (geoduck, intertidal clams, and oysters), crustaceans (crab and shrimp), and echinoderms (sea cucumbers and sea urchins). These production methods honor the water, the land, the animals, and the people, and are controlled by communities, not corporations. Both the Aquaculture Atlas convening in Georgia as well as the coastal convening in the Pacific Northwest included inspiring opportunities to see values-based aquaculture in action. 

St. Helena island, off the coast of South Carolina, is home to one of the largest Gullah/Geechee communities. The Gullah/Geechee people are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and came to live in the coastal regions of the southeastern United States, particularly in South Carolina and Georgia, and are known for their unique language, culture, and food traditions rooted in African heritage. St. Helena is home to members of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and the Gullah/Geechee Fishing Association, created to advocate for the rights of Gullah/Geechee and African American fishermen and fishery workers of the southeast and share traditional fishing methods with the next generation. In May, we met here with Queen Quet and Gullah/Geechee elders to learn about traditional fishing practices, current oyster replanting, and ongoing work to protect traditional diets.

My time learning from Gullah/Geechee elders and fisherpeople echoed across the country when I traveled with Don’t Cage Our Oceans, State Innovation Exchange, state legislators from across the U.S., and members of the Duwamish Tribe and Suquamish Tribe to the Port Madison Indian Reservation on the Kitsap Peninsula. Approximately 57 percent of the reservation is owned by the Suquamish Tribal Government and Tribal families, including the Squamish Seafood Plant, which is part of Suquamish Seafood Enterprises (SSE). As SSE’s website explains, the enterprise was formed in 1996 by tribal charter to “develop seafood markets for tribal fishermen as well as market the bountiful harvests of geoduck clams that populate the tribe’s surrounding waters. It is a benefit for the tribal members via seafood sustainability, subsistence living, and to support the tribal economy as a whole.” Jay Mills, a Suquamish Council Member, explained how Suquamish divers sustainably harvest geoduck, clams, crab, and shrimp, and how SSE is structured so that proceeds benefit Tribal members. 

Photo: Suquamish Seafood Company oyster cultivation 

The Policy Seascape 

Policymakers, of course, have a significant role in strengthening regulations governing the expanding commercial aquaculture industry and incentivizing values-based aquaculture. In both Savannah and Seattle, we discussed legislative and regulatory opportunities as well as existing policy at the state, federal, and international levels. 

Some states, such as Washington and Alaska, have banned offshore finfish farming in their waters. Following a disastrous farmed salmon escapement in Washington that prompted the statewide ban, Leonard Forsman, Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe stated, “Ending commercial finfish farming in our ancestral waters is an important step towards protecting marine water quality, salmon populations, and the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. The impacts of commercial finfish farming put all of that at risk, and threatened treaty rights and ultimately our way of life and culture.” Other states, such as Maine and Hawaii have existing offshore fish farms in state waters. See Don’t Cage our Ocean’s state tracking map for more information. 

At the federal level, agencies and some members of Congress have been supportive of offshore fish farming citing it as a potential economic driver. Per Trump Administration Executive Order 13921, which is still in place today, NOAA is tasked with identifying “aquaculture opportunity areas,” or areas deemed suitable for offshore aquaculture operations. The EO is intended to make it easier for corporations to set up offshore farming operations. The Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, introduced by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) would further streamline the permitting process for offshore fish farming and establish a research and development grant program to support the growth of aquaculture in the U.S. However, other members of Congress remain wary of industrial aquaculture. Representative Mary Peltola’s (AK-AL) Domestic Seafood Production Act, for example, would instead encourage research on the effects of finfish aquaculture on the ecosystem and seek to slow the rapid scale-up of offshore finfish aquaculture. 

The international finfish farming policy seascape is similarly mixed. Some nations like Norway and Chile have endorsed the growth of industrial aquaculture in their waters, while others, like Argentina, have banned offshore salmon farming. This particular policy win in Argentina is the result of a successful 2021 campaign led by a coalition that became the Global Salmon Farming Resistance (GSFR). Catalina Cendoya, who attended the convening in Seattle, noted that GSFR is coordinating campaigns in countries like Iceland, Canada, and Tasmania to secure further wins. 

Opportunities for Funders 

These two convenings made clear there are numerous opportunities for funders to support values-based aquaculture. Funders can:  

• Fund research investigating the systems-level impacts of industrial aquaculture. 
• Embrace advocacy as a tool for change and fund community-led organizations advocating for stricter, proactive regulation of offshore finfish aquaculture. 
• Collaborate with peer funders already supporting values based, community led aquaculture and learn more about their grantmaking strategies.  
• Consider incorporating funding for community-based, sustainable aquaculture as an element of your food system funding portfolios. 

In one example of action led by an SAFSF member, the Rauch Foundation organized a letter to FAO on World Ocean Day urging the agency to revise its position on sustainable aquaculture to EXCLUDE carnivorous fish farming. You can read the full text of the letter here, which was signed by over 160 organizations from six continents. 

For more information on recent funding flows to aquaculture and fisheries, review this report developed by the GRACE Communications Foundation and Environmental Grantmakers Association. The report notes, “Aquaculture is an area largely overlooked by environmental philanthropy, receiving less than one-tenth of the funding given to Fisheries. The rapid growth of the Aquaculture industry calls for the environmental sector to evaluate and address its ecological impact and invest in sustainable aquaculture methods.”

Additional Resources 

• North American Marine Alliance (NAMA) 
• Local Catch Network
• Slow Fish Network
• World Forum of Fisher Peoples
• Coalition for Fair Fishers Arrangements 
• The New Fish: The Truth about Farmed Salmon and the Consequences We Can No Longer Ignore by Simen Sætre and Kjetil Østli
• Salmon Wars: The Dark Underbelly of Our Favorite Fish by Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins