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agencies devote resources to address the development of aquaculture. NOAA be- 

 lieves that through ongoing efforts in the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

 Sea Grant program and the newly formed Office of Sustainable Development it of- 

 fers expertise and resources whicn could significantly benefit the development of a 

 national aquaculture program. 



A barrier to growth in the marine sector of the coastal and national economies 

 is inadequate investment in marine commercial aquaculture. Fishery landings have 

 decreased in recent years and many scientists feel the ocean's annual harvest is 

 near the maximum sustainable yield. Many U.S. fisheries are currently 

 overexploited. While NOAA is undertaking a maior effort to restore these fisheries 

 througn its existing regional programs, it is unlikely that capture fisheries alone 

 would be able to meet tne rising demand for fishery products. Seafood imports, cru- 

 cial in meeting U.S. consumer demand, exceed U.S. seafood exports by $2.8 billion. 

 For domestic aquaculture to contribute to a reduction in this deficit, new technology 

 to improve efficiency, reduce mortality, and lower costs must be developed. Unfortu- 

 nately, much of the aquaculture industry is composed of small firms that lack the 

 technical staff and research facilities to develop and evaluate new technology. Any 

 such program should take advantage of the scientific expertise within NOAA. An- 

 other impediment to the commercialization of aquaculture are the environmental 

 concerns accompanying the development of extensive aquaculture systems. NOAA 

 has begun to address som.e of these concerns in its aquaculture work, but other con- 

 cerns remain which deserve careful consideration before the aquaculture industry 

 is expanded. Again, NOAA has existing research facilities and personnel which are 

 capable of supporting efforts to overcome some of these technical barriers. 



Aquaculture can be a major contributor to the national economy providing both 

 jobs and healthy food products for the country. Displaced fishermen and individuals 

 who work in related processing and marketing industries are natural candidates for 

 retraining to support a growing aauaculture industry. This is presently being looked 

 into as a part oi a solution to employment problems the New England fishing indus- 

 try has suffered from stock declines in many of its traditional fisheries. The United 

 States also has excellent natural resources, including suitable shorelines, high water 

 quality, and excellent candidate species, assets which lend themselves to our coun- 

 try becoming an international leader in aquaculture. Yet, we need to exploit more 

 fully these potential advantages in aquaculture development. 



Trie National Academy of Sciences recently completed a study that recommends 

 the development of closed system aquaculture and offshore aquaculture to promote 

 aquaculture development in this country. NOAA believes it is important to foster 

 the development ol environmentally acceptable, cost-effective intensive commercial 

 aquaculture systems in the coastal zone, onshore, and offshore. Toward this end, the 

 Fisheries Obligation Guarantee Program, which makes loans to the fishing industry, 

 was amended in 1992 to make commercial aquaculture eligible for loans. We agree 

 with the National Academy study and believe priority should be given to the re- 

 search and development of closed-cycle recirculating systems, waste-control meth- 

 odologies, and the application of computer technologies to aquaculture. Progress in 

 these priority areas will help in developing technology for culturing currently 

 overexploited species and those in danger of overexploitation, better broodstocks, im- 

 proving hatchery techniques, enhancing growth of high-value species, improving dis- 

 ease resistance and treatment, improving control of reproduction, developing tech- 

 niques for the identification of cultured stocks in the oceans, and better understand- 

 ing of the genetic consequences of enhancement. NOAA's fisheries enhancement ef- 

 forts could also be advanced through the development of new hatchery rearing sys- 

 tems which will minimize negative interactions between reared and wild stocks, 

 using biotechnology and other scientific methods. 



NOAA's existing experience in aquaculture will contribute significantly to the 

 growth and stimulation of our Nation's coastal and national economies. As the U.S. 

 aquaculture industry expands, its growth will provide lower priced seafood for con- 

 sumers, reduce pressure on capture fisheries, increase employment, and reduce the 

 deficit in trade of seafood. Use of aquaculture to enhance aepleted stocks of capture 

 fisheries, in combination with stock management, will shorten the recovery time for 

 overexploited capture fisheries. 



Mr. Chairman, I would like to comment specifically on provisions of S. 1288. 



S. 1288 would designate the Department of Agriculture as the lead Federal agency 

 for the development, implementation, promotion and coordination of national policy 

 and programs for private (i.e., commercial) aquaculture. Because aquaculture is an 

 important component of the mandates of several major Federal agencies, the 

 Department believes that no single agency can be responsible for all facets of aqua- 

 culture. A comprehensive national aquaculture program, including public and pri- 

 vate aquaculture, should be designed to exploit the expertise and leadership of 



