Other barriers faced by some segments of industry include 

 multiple-use conflicts, legal constraints, and difficulty in 

 locating capital for entrepreneurial exploration. Finally, some 

 observers argue that jurisdictional overlap and inadequate 

 coordination at the Federal level has led to ineffective and 

 inefficient Federal support of the emerging aquaculture industries. 

 P.L. 96-362 formally recognized the JSA as the vehicle to provide 

 the necessary coordination in order to bring about improved Federal 

 support of aquaculture. 



Although aquaculture is complex and diverse, certain common factors 

 exist that offer opportunities for enhancement by Federal action on 

 a National basis with the understanding that local and State 

 constraints must be dealt with at a local or State level, and that 

 industry must provide adequate support for aquaculture research and 

 development . 



The recommended activities of the JSA are included in the following 

 summary. A more comprehensive discussion is presented in Chapter 5. 



Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture 



The JSA will provide broad coordination and monitoring of Federal 

 aquaculture programs including reviews, assessments, developing 

 policy recommendations, and reports on aquaculture activities. 

 Specific functions and responsibilities have been assigned to three 

 panels: 



Panel on Science, Technology, and Engineering: The Panel will 

 annually update research needs, identify and report on ongoing 

 research efforts, and coordinate Federal research programs. 



Panel on Economics: The panel will periodically review and report 

 on aspects that affect the economic feasibility of aquaculture; 

 initiate, monitor, and report on Federal actions to reduce 

 burdensome regulations, and publish and distribute a directory of 

 financial assistance programs. 



Panel on Education and Technical Assistance: The panel will 

 provide for coordination and monitoring of education and 

 information dissemination activities of Federal agencies, 

 facilitate exchange of aquaculture information, and establish and 

 monitor a National Aquaculture Information System (NATS) . 



Issues and concerns that the JSA will address include: 



National Aquaculture Information System (NATS) : Federal data banks 

 containing information about aquaculture will be tied together 

 under the leadership of the National Agricultural Library of USDA. 

 Bibliographic files, translations of foreign articles, selected 

 directories, statistics, survey results and research projects will 

 be accessible at a single entry point. 



XV 



