Mussel longline aquaculture, a type of aquaculture practised in the coastal ocean of California.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries / Darryl Torckler.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking public input on where it should focus its next search for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs).
The consultation, which remains open until 14 September, asks stakeholders to identify regions that NOAA should consider assessing for their potential suitability for commercial aquaculture.
NOAA describes AOAs as defined geographic areas that have undergone analysis to determine whether they could be suitable for aquaculture development. NOAA's assessment process considers environmental, economic and social factors, as well as potential interactions with existing ocean users and sensitive habitats or species.
Identifying an AOA does not itself authorise an aquaculture project, the federal body emphasised in its announcement, and individual developments must still go through the relevant state and federal permitting processes.
For the latest consultation, NOAA is asking for information on which regions of the country should be considered, what types of aquaculture they might support, and appropriate water depths and distances from shore.
It is also seeking input on locations where aquaculture gear could overlap with fishing activity or other commercial uses, as well as areas used by protected species such as whales, dolphins and sea turtles.
Other considerations include subsistence harvesting, cultural resources, outdoor recreation and nature conservation.
The new consultation follows NOAA's identification in September 2025 of 13 AOAs covering more than 21,000 acres of federal waters, after a process begun in 2020.
Ten of those areas are located off Southern California, including sites in the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Monica Bay, while three are situated off the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
The agency is also working with Alaska authorities on a separate process in state waters. In February 2026, NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science published an atlas identifying 77 potential locations within ten study areas in the Gulf of Alaska as potential sites for shellfish and seaweed aquaculture.
As part of the current national consultation, NOAA has scheduled three public listening sessions. Two English-language sessions took place on 6 and 13 August, while a third session in English and Spanish is due to be held on 31 August.
Written comments can also be submitted through the federal e-Rulemaking Portal under docket NOAA-NMFS-2026-2179 until 14 September.
As previously reported by WeAreAquaculture in June, NOAA is also backing a new aquaculture institute with the stated aim of boosting US seafood production.
The University of New Hampshire will host the five-year CIFARM initiative, which will support research into marine aquaculture, seafood markets and domestic supply chains, supported by initial funding of approximately $13.5 million.