15 



STATEMENT OF JOSEPH P. McCRAREN, EXECUTIVE DIREC- 

 TOR, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AQUACULTURE, SHEP- 

 HERDS-TOWN, WEST VIRGINIA 



Mr. McCraren. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mr. 

 Chairman, members of the committee, Senator Akaka. 



I am Joseph McCraren, Executive Director of the National Aqua- 

 culture Association. I wish to thank you for providing me person- 

 ally, my colleagues, and our industry with the opportunity to speak 

 in support of Senate bill 1288, the National Aquaculture Develop- 

 ment, Commercialization, and Promotion Act of 1993. 



Today I am speaking on behalf of all members of the National 

 Aquaculture Association. NAA is the youngest and largest such as- 

 sociation in the United States. It is a grassroots, producer-driven, 

 nonprofit organization dedicated to the establishment of policies 

 that further the common interest of its membership, both its indi- 

 vidual producers and as members of an industry. 



NAA currently serves 33 diverse national and State associations 

 whose members produce a variety of species, including trout, salm- 

 on, catfish, ornamentals, shellfish, and certainlv others. 



A recent industry analysis by USDA states that aquaculture pro- 

 duction in 1980 was 203 million pounds with a farm gate value of 

 $192 million. During the 1980s, production quadrupled, reaching 

 an estimated 860 million pounds with a farm gate value of more 

 than $760 million by 1990. Aquaculture is a growth industry, as 

 evidenced by these data. 



Our Nation's aquaculture producers range in size and complexity 

 from corporations employing several hundred workers to small, 

 family-owned farms, commonly referred to as "Mom and Pop" oper- 

 ations. They farm a variety of finfish, crustaceans, such as crawfish 

 and shrimp, shellfish and aquatic plants. The industry is supported 

 by an infrastructure of feed mills, processing plants, equipment 

 manufacturers and suppliers. The United States industry and its 

 support services account for nearly 300,000 full-time jobs, with a 

 direct and indirect economic impact of $8 billion. And too, aqua- 

 culture supplies substantial quantities of finfish for recreational 

 fishery. 



The potential for this industry, the fastest growing segment of 

 agriculture in this country, is vast. Growth would mean jobs and 

 opportunity to many Americans, particularly to those in our rural 

 areas, to provide farmers involved in traditional agriculture with a 

 viable alternative. 



Now that is the good news. The bad news is that aquaculture 

 currently accounts for less than 9 percent of U.S. seafood produc- 

 tion, compared with the world average of 16 percent. In 1990, the 

 United States ranked tenth in world aquaculture production. 



Aquaculture will be a major global growth industry of the 21st 

 Century. According to current projections based on anticipated pop- 

 ulation growth and stable or declining capture fisheries harvest, 

 aquaculture production will have to increase sevenfold to supply 

 the world's demand for seafood by the year 2025. 



With national commitment and proper planning and support, the 

 United States can realize a major opportunity to develop an impor- 

 tant new agricultural industry to serve national needs and the 

 global marketplace. Without such a commitment, the United States 



