USVI Enters Federal Aquaculture Planning Discussion as NOAA Looks for Next Development Regions

The U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are among five regions NOAA is considering for the next phase of a federal effort to identify waters potentially suitable for commercial aquaculture, with the agency seeking public input on where development could occur and which areas should be avoided. NOAA's July 30 Request for Information lists the “U.S. Caribbean (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands)” alongside New England, the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic and Pacific Islands as possible future areas of focus for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, or AOAs. No location in the Virgin Islands has been selected. NOAA is first determining which regions warrant more detailed study, and an AOA designation would not itself authorize an aquaculture operation. Individual projects would still be subject to applicable federal and territorial permits and environmental reviews. Aquaculture involves farming aquatic organisms such as finfish, shellfish and seaweed. An AOA is a geographic area evaluated throu...