Maddie Voorhees is the U.S. aquaculture campaign director at the Environmental Defense Action Fund. Drue Banta Winters is the campaign manager for Stronger America Through Seafood.
When a family in America sits down for a seafood dinner, the fish on their plates almost certainly comes from overseas, and very likely from a fish farm. Aquaculture, or fish farming, is now the fastest-growing form of food production because wild fish populations are being pushed to their limits by rising demand.
The practice dates back thousands of years to when farmers in ancient China raised carp in rice paddies; Hawaiian communities have also used fishpond systems, known as loko iʻa, to sustain many generations. Modern aquaculture is powered by science-based systems and technology, and farms have the potential to put American seafood on tables across the country while preserving the environment.
Fish farming is a booming industry. A 2025 World Wildlife Fund and World Bank report projected that aquaculture could generate 22 million new jobs globally by 2050 and become a $1.5 trillion investment opportunity. But there is not a single commercial-scale finfish farm operating in U.S. federal waters. The United States is sitting on the sidelines — ranking 20th in global aquaculture production and continuing to fall behind countries like China, India and Indonesia. And thanks to a messy jumble of rules and regulations, there’s no pathway to develop a domestic industry.
Take the case of Neil Anthony Sims and Dennis Peters, marine biologists who spent the last eight years navigating 12 federal and state agencies to obtain approval for a single net-pen — an enclosed floating cage used to hold fish — demonstration project more than 40 miles off the Florida coast, where they plan to grow red drum.
Their eight-year quest to place a single net pen in federal waters highlights the main obstacle blocking U.S. fish farms. The current maze of regulations will not yield innovation or attract investment, but it will leave America dependent on imported seafood. This lack of opportunity coincides with more than $20 billion seafood trade deficit and declining wild fish stocks.
Congress now has an opportunity to unlock U.S. aquaculture. Sitting in front of lawmakers is a bill that would, for the first time, establish a clear legal authority and coordinated process for permitting commercial-scale demonstration projects in federal waters. These projects will generate the data needed to ensure offshore aquaculture is developed in a responsible way — including data on water chemistry or data to help set standards for species grown in a particular area.
We represent what seems like an unlikely coalition — the Environmental Defense Fund and the food industry — but aquaculture is a sound and science-based practice that, when done responsibly, can be remarkably good for the environment. It takes pressure off wild fish stocks, is low-carbon and can revitalize fishing communities with new investment in port infrastructure and seafood processing.
Perhaps most important for EDF, however, is that the bipartisan Marine Aquaculture Research for America Act provides a thoughtful, science-based pathway for determining how offshore aquaculture can be developed responsibly in U.S. waters. The bill would help fill critical knowledge gaps and generate the evidence needed to inform future decisions about where and how the sector should grow, while protecting ocean health.
Building an American aquaculture industry will have other benefits, including helping prevent some of the environmental and ethical challenges of relying on seafood imported from countries with questionable labor protections, food-safety standards and environmental oversight. And demand for U.S.-grown crops used in fish feed, such as soybeans, corn, peas and barley, would support farmers across inland states.
The U.S. has the scientific expertise and resources to lead the world in open-ocean aquaculture. Take one shining American example: Blue Ocean Mariculture has responsibly raised Hawaiian kanpachi off the coast of Kona, Hawaii, at a site operating in the state’s deep-ocean waters for more than 20 years, a half-mile from a coral reef. The farm makes its water quality reports public, and NOAA Fisheries reports that the farm has no impact on the ocean floor beneath it.
The Mara Act will help unlock American seafood production and support coastal economies while ensuring that the U.S. sets the global standard for responsibly produced seafood. Congress has an opportunity to take a step toward turning the U.S. into a global leader in producing healthy, sustainable seafood through careful siting, species selection and modern farming practices. It should take it.
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