As part of the recent federal Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, NOAA announced that federal waters off of Southern California and in the Gulf of Mexico will be the first two regions to host Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs). The selection of these regions is the first step in a process designed to identify and complete programmatic environmental impact statements for 10 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas nationwide. This webinar covered the recent Executive Order, information on spatial analysis that will be performed to develop Aquaculture Opportunity Atlases for selected regions, upcoming opportunities for stakeholder input regarding siting considerations for the identification of 10 AOAs over the next five years, and how NOAA will work with stakeholders and interagency teams throughout the process to inform AOA siting and environmental impact analysis.

• The October 26 webinar was held from 2-3:30pm (Eastern), with over 100 registrants
• View a recording of the webinar
• View and download the presentations from the webinar (single pdf contains all presentations below [4.7mb])
  • Welcome, Introductions, Context Setting, and Agenda Review, Ted Diers, NROC Ocean Planning Committee State Co-Chair, Administrator of the Watershed Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and Chris Boelke, NROC Ocean Planning Committee Federal Co-Chair, New England Branch Chief, Habitat Conservation Division, NOAA Fisheries
  • Aquaculture Aspects of the Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth, Chris Schillaci and Kevin Madley, NOAA Fisheries, Greater Atlantic Region Aquaculture Coordinators
  • Spatial Planning for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, James Morris, NOAA National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science