Ocean Era’s prior Velella Beta-test demonstration project pioneered the permit process for aquaculture in Federal waters, offshore of Kona, Hawai`i.
Photo credit: © Rick Decker
Ocean Era and GulfStream Aquaculture have secured the final permit required to proceed with an offshore fish farming demonstration project more than 40 miles off Florida’s west coast, which the companies describe as the first project to grow marine finfish through to harvest in US federal waters in the area.
The Velella Epsilon project will raise a single batch of red drum in a submerged net pen more than 40 miles west of Sarasota.
Ocean Era said the trial could begin in early 2027, provided there are no further delays. US Environmental Protection Agency documents permit the production of up to 20,000 fish during one cycle, with annual output capped at 55,000 lb, or about 25 tonnes.
“This proposed project is a very small-scale, temporary demonstration – just a single, small batch of fish. The project will be closely monitored for environmental and social impacts, and the results will all be made publicly available,” said Ocean Era founder and chief executive Neil Anthony Sims, who was also one of the original founders of Hawaiian kanpachi producer Blue Ocean Mariculture.
“One of the primary goals of this demonstration project is to show the Florida fishing and boating communities that offshore aquaculture will be something that they will love. We now, finally, have our chance to do that,” Sims said.
The project has been a long time in the making, having taken a total of eight years to pass through the US regulatory system, in a complex process involving nine federal and state laws and engagement with 12 government agencies.
Sims said the experience highlighted the need for a clearer national framework for offshore aquaculture.
“A further goal was to pioneer the permitting process for offshore aquaculture in Federal waters,” he said. “So, as a demonstration project, it has been tremendously successful, in that it has demonstrated with abundant clarity that regulatory reform is sorely needed.”
"We hope that the challenges that our Velella Epsilon project has faced will help our legislators understand the very real costs of continuing the status quo,” Sims said.
GulfStream Aquaculture, a Florida-based environmental consultancy, led the permitting work. Ocean Era said GulfStream principal Dennis Peters contributed more than $450,000 in environmental and technical services to the project, largely on a pro bono basis.
In addition to the regulatory hurdles, the project has also faced objections from environmental organisations and other groups concerned about issues including waste discharge, fish escapes and the possible expansion of offshore net-pen farming in US waters.
However, Ocean Era said challenges brought against the project were rejected by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board.
The EPA made its final decision on 1 July to modify the project’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The modified permit is due to take effect on 31 July 2026 and expire on 7 July 2027.
Ocean Era conducted earlier Velella trials in federal waters off Kona, Hawaii. According to the company, these attracted species including wahoo, mahimahi, tuna and marlin, with the cages acting as fish aggregation devices. Ocean Era said it hopes the Florida project will provide a similar point of interest for local fishing communities.
Kanpachi fish in an earlier Velella trial.
Ocean Era said the project could also inform the wider debate over the future of aquaculture in the US, including discussion around the Marine Aquaculture Research for America Act (MARA), which, as previously reported by WeAreAquaculture, was introduced in Congress in 2025 with support from members of both major parties.
The proposed legislation would authorise the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish and oversee commercial-scale offshore aquaculture demonstration projects around the US coastline. However, this too has faced opposition based on environmental concerns.
Supporters say offshore aquaculture trials would give regulators, scientists and coastal communities more evidence about the environmental and economic effects of farming seafood in federal waters. Industry and stakeholder groups, such as the organisations Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) and the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture, have promoted offshore aquaculture as a way to increase domestic seafood production and reduce US reliance on imports.
Ocean Era said Velella Epsilon would allow some of those questions to be examined through a monitored, limited-duration production cycle.
Sims also pointed out support for aquaculture from environmental NGOs including the Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy.
“The Environmental Defense Fund – through the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture – is leading the advocacy for the MARA Act. That speaks volumes,” Sims stated.
“The environmental arguments all now underscore the need for increasing aquaculture production – it is one of the least impactful forms of animal protein production. We in America need to be developing innovative, sustainable ways to do this here, in our waters, and to be creating jobs and maintaining working waterfronts in our towns. That is the very essence of food security,” he added.