AQUACULTURE WEBINAR SERIES | April 5 and April 8, 2022
Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters: Regulation, Public Engagement and Interjurisdictional Coordination
The Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC)’s Ocean Planning Committee (OPC) hosted a webinar series about the regulatory process, public engagement, and interjurisdictional coordination for aquaculture in New England federal waters. This series built on NROC’s 2020 webinar which highlighted federal efforts to designate Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in the United States, as well as NROC’s recent development of a draft set of “Best Practices for Ocean Permitting and Management Processes.”
These webinars provided an overview of the state of aquaculture in New England federal waters, an update on the identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, an overview of the federal review and authorization process for aquaculture activities, and discussion about how federal agencies coordinate with states, tribes, and the public to consider environmental and human impacts during regulatory review. Panel sessions highlighted state, tribal, and public perspectives on opportunities to improve the federal regulatory review process and better engage different interests in aquaculture permitting decisions.
WEBINAR 1 | April 5, 2022 | 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Federal Agency Review and Authorization of Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters
Webinar featured presentations and discussion about the state of aquaculture in New England, identification of Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, case studies of aquaculture permitting from other regions, and the federal agency review and authorization process for aquaculture in New England federal waters. Speakers included NROC OPC Co-Chair Lou Chiarella, NOAA Fisheries; Chris Schillaci, NOAA Fisheries; Christine Jacek, US Army Corps of Engineers; and Eric Nelson, US Environmental Protection Agency.
View presentations from the webinar
- Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters: Regulation, Public Engagement and Interjurisdictional Coordination – Lou Chiarella, NOAA / NROC; Nick Napoli, NROC
- Status of Aquaculture in US Federal Waters and NOAA’s NEPA Role for Federal Waters Aquaculture Projects – Chris Schillaci, NOAA
- US Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program – Christine Jacek, USACE
- EPA’s Role in Regulating Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters – Eric Nelson, US EPA
WEBINAR 2 | April 8, 2022 | 9:00 – 11:00 AM
State, Tribal, and Public Perspectives on Improving the Regulatory Process for Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters
Webinar featured panel sessions highlighting state, tribal, and public perspectives on improving the regulatory process for aquaculture permitting in New England. Speakers included: NROC OPC Co-Chair Ted Diers, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services; Chris Schillaci, NOAA Fisheries; Tom Nies, New England Fisheries Management Council; Lisa Engler, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management; Chris Williams, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services; Amanda Ellis, Maine Department of Marine Resources; Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association; Ted Maney, Salem State University; Paul Zajicek, National Aquaculture Association; Beth Casoni, Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association; Robert Jones, The Nature Conservancy; and Priscilla Brooks, Conservation Law Foundation.
View introductory presentation from the webinar
NROC Aquaculture Webinar_Intro_4-8-22
An overview with key takeaways from the Aquaculture Webinar Series available for download here: NROC 2022 Aquaculture Webinars – Overview and Key Takeaways
Program Agenda available for download here: Draft Agenda NROC Aquaculture Webinars
AQUACULTURE OPPORTUNITY AREAS – 2020 WEBINAR SERIES
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