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Aquaculture's legacy is ancient.

Centuries-old Hawaiian fishponds still stand as remarkable engineering feats. These culturally important fishponds were built by hand, without any mortar. Interlocking rocks kept fish safely in, and let water flow back and forth.

Fish not only thrived, but were easy to catch.

Driven by demand, ingenuity, and high market value, aquaculture has continued to grow.

In 1980, Congress recognized the importance of domestic aquaculture to U.S. food security by enacting legislation encouraging NOAA and other federal agencies to farm in U.S. waters. 

Aquaculture is rapidly gaining prominence, both for food security and as a local to global economic driver.

In 2015, the average American ate 15.5 pounds of fish and shellfish, a 0.9 pound increase from 2014. But while global population and seafood consumption are rising, the global abundance of wild fish is not. Wild fish harvests have plateaued for more than 30 years.

In 2015, U.S. seafood and fish production was valued at a substantial $5.3 billion. Aquaculture accounted for 21 percent of this value.

Production from marine aquaculture was 6.6 percent higher than in 2014.

Through science and technical guidance, and by streamlining permit processes and funding research projects, NOAA contributed significantly to this growth. 

In the United States, seafood demand far outstrips national supply. More than 90 percent of our edible seafood is imported, and almost 50 percent of this seafood is farmed.

NOAA is working hard to put more domestic seafood on U.S. tables, which will help to reduce America’s $14 billion edible seafood trade deficit.

NOAA’s Aquaculture Program is leading these efforts.

Collaborating with public and private stakeholders, this program includes the activities of three NOAA offices, each playing a distinct and complementary role: NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture; NOAA National Ocean Service’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science; and NOAA Research’s Sea Grant Program. 

Collectively, these programs conduct science and deliver services vitally important to sustainable U.S. aquaculture.

The open ocean, our coastal waters, even tanks in land-bound states all invite opportunities to grow more fish, shellfish and marine plants.

NOAA science, partnerships and pioneering techniques are building on these expanded opportunities, leading to more jobs, increased food security, revitalized waterfronts, and the restoration of depleted species and habitats.

There’s also a vast global market to tap. More than half of all seafood consumed by humans comes from aquaculture, a percentage that will continue to rise. 

Along U.S. coasts, NOAA collaborates with fish farmers who are producing healthy, local and sustainable seafood. 

Scientific needs of management and industry are addressed, including feed innovations, site analyses, and genetics and life cycle research on important aquaculture species. In the Gulf of Mexico, improved federal regulatory processes facilitate more efficient interagency reviews of permit applications for proposed offshore aquaculture operations. The processes reduce wait times, ensure transparency, and minimize environmental impacts.  

The strength of NOAA’s Aquaculture Program lies not only in scientific research, policy and management techniques, but in the relationships NOAA builds with America’s growers.

Here are just a few of their stories: