II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3417 

To prohibit offshore aquaculture until 3 years after the submission of a 

report on the impacts of offshore aquaculture, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 25, 2010 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit offshore aquaculture until 3 years after the submission of a report on the impacts of offshore aquaculture, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Research in Aqua5 culture Opportunity and Responsibility Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AQUATIC SPECIES.—The term ‘‘aquatic spe9 cies’’ means all species that are propagated, reared, 

10 or grown in salt or brackish water, including finfish, 


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1 mollusks, crustaceans, algae, and all forms of ma2 rine life, other than sea turtles, marine mammals, 

3 and birds. 

4 (2) COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘coastal 

5 State’’ means— 

6 (A) a State in, or bordering on, the Atlan7 tic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mex8 ico, or Long Island Sound; and 

9 (B) Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

10 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

11 Mariana Islands, the Trust Territories of the 

12 Pacific Islands, and American Samoa. 

13 (3) COASTLINE.—The term ‘‘coastline’’ means 

14 the line of ordinary low water along that portion of 

15 the coast that is in direct contact with the open sea 

16 and the line marking the seaward limit of inland wa17 ters. 

18 (4) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.— 

19 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘exclusive 

20 economic zone’’ means, unless otherwise speci21 fied by the President in the public interest in 

22 a writing published in the Federal Register, a 

23 zone, the outer boundary of which is 200 nau24 tical miles from the baseline from which the 

25 breadth of the territorial sea is measured, exVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:02 May 26, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3417.IS S3417

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1 cept as established by a maritime boundary 

2 treaty in force, or being provisionally applied by 

3 the United States or, in the absence of such a 

4 treaty where the distance between the United 

5 States and another nation is less than 400 nau6 tical miles, a line equidistant between the 

7 United States and the other nation. Without af8 fecting any Presidential Proclamation with re9 gard to the establishment of the United States 

10 territorial sea or exclusive economic zone, the 

11 inner boundary of that zone is— 

12 (i) a line coterminous with the sea13 ward boundary (as defined in section 4 of 

14 the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 

15 1312)) of each coastal State; 

16 (ii) a line 3 marine leagues from the 

17 coastline of the Commonwealth of Puerto 

18 Rico; 

19 (iii) a line 3 geographical miles from 

20 the coastlines of American Samoa, the 

21 United States Virgin Islands, and Guam; 

22 (iv) for the Commonwealth of the 

23 Northern Mariana Islands— 

24 (I) its coastline, until such time 

25 as the Commonwealth of the Northern 


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1 Mariana Islands is granted authority 

2 by the United States to regulate all 

3 fishing to a line seaward of its coast4 line; and 

5 (II) upon the United States 

6 grant of such authority, the line es7 tablished by such grant of authority; 

8 and 

9 (v) for any possession of the United 

10 States not described in clause (ii), (iii), or 

11 (iv), the coastline of such possession. 

12 (B) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

13 paragraph may be construed as diminishing the 

14 authority of the Department of Defense or the 

15 Department of the Interior. 

16 (5) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 

17 agency’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

18 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (6) LAND-BASED RECIRCULATING AQUA20 CULTURE SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘land-based recircu21 lating aquaculture system’’ means any system, in22 cluding aquaponics, that is— 

23 (A) located on land; 

24 (B) recirculates more than 85 percent of 

25 the water used within the system; 


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1 (C) involved in the propagation and 

2 rearing of aquatic species; and 

3 (D) not located or operated in open waters, 

4 including rivers, harbors, lakes, the exclusive 

5 economic zone, or within nearshore waters 

6 under State or territorial jurisdiction. 

7 (7) OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE.—The term ‘‘off8 shore aquaculture’’— 

9 (A) means all activities, including the 

10 placement or operation of an offshore aqua11 culture facility, involved in the propagation and 

12 rearing, or attempted propagation and rearing, 

13 of marine species in the exclusive economic 

14 zone, including ocean ranching; and 

15 (B) does not include— 

16 (i) salmon hatcheries in the Pacific 

17 Northwest or Alaska; 

18 (ii) the cultivation of mollusks, except 

19 cephalopods, or live rock in the exclusive 

20 economic zone; 

21 (iii) exempted or experimental fishing 

22 activities conducted under an exempted 

23 fish permit issued pursuant to section 

24 600.745 of title 50, Code of Federal Regu25 lations (or successor regulations); or 


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1 (iv) the harvest of native ornamental 

2 fish from existing oil or gas infrastructure. 

3 (8) OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE FACILITY.—The 

4 term ‘‘offshore aquaculture facility’’ means— 

5 (A) an installation or structure used, in 

6 whole or in part, for offshore aquaculture; or 

7 (B) an area of the seabed or the subsoil 

8 used for offshore aquaculture of living orga9 nisms belonging to sedentary species. 

10 (9) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 

11 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Com12 merce. 

13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE. 

14 (a) PROHIBITION ON OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE.— 

15 Notwithstanding the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

16 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 1801 et seq.), no head of an executive agency and no Re18 gional Fishery Management Council established under sec19 tion 302 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

20 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852) may develop or 

21 approve any rule, regulation, fishery management plan, or 

22 fishery management plan amendment to permit or regu23 late offshore aquaculture until the date that is 3 years 

24 after the date of the submission of the reports required 

25 by sections 5 and 6. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION TO EXISTING PERMITS.—Any per2 mit issued by the head of an executive agency prior to 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act to conduct offshore 

4 aquaculture, including the siting or operation of offshore 

5 aquaculture facilities, under the Magnuson-Stevens Fish6 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 

7 et seq.) or any other Federal law shall cease to be valid 

8 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR LAND-BASED AQUACULTURE. 

10 The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

11 each provide grants for research related to land-based re12 circulating aquaculture systems. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORT ON OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE. 

14 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—Not later than 

15 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

16 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on offshore 

17 aquaculture. 

18 (b) CONTENT.—The report required by subsection 

19 (a) shall include the following: 

20 (1) The results of a comprehensive study on the 

21 potential environmental impacts to native fish spe22 cies resulting from the use of each technology cur23 rently used in any offshore aquaculture operation 

24 around the world. 


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1 (2) The results of a study on the economic im2 pacts of offshore aquaculture on land-based recircu3 lating aquaculture, other aquaculture operations, 

4 and on recreational and commercial fishing, includ5 ing economic impacts— 

6 (A) to fishing operations and coastal com7 munities throughout the United States; and 

8 (B) specific to fishing operations and 

9 coastal communities in the Gulf of Mexico. 

10 (3) The recommendations of the Secretary for 

11 regulatory guidelines to protect ocean ecosystems 

12 from the impacts of offshore aquaculture, including 

13 guidelines related to— 

14 (A) preventing— 

15 (i) pollution from concentrated fish 

16 feces and uneaten food; 

17 (ii) parasites, diseases, and their ef18 fects on native wildlife species; 

19 (iii) escape of marine species from off20 shore aquaculture facilities; 

21 (iv) degradation of wild stocks of ma22 rine species; 

23 (v) negative impacts on commercial 

24 and recreational fishing; 


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1 (vi) inefficient reliance on wild forage 

2 fish to feed marine species in offshore 

3 aquaculture facilities; 

4 (vii) the inappropriate use of chemi5 cals to treat parasites and disease in off6 shore aquaculture; and 

7 (viii) negative health impacts from 

8 consumption of marine species produced in 

9 offshore aquaculture; and 

10 (B) allocation of reconstruction costs in 

11 the event an offshore aquaculture facility is 

12 abandoned or destroyed. 

13 SEC. 6. REPORT ON LAND-BASED RECIRCULATING AQUA14 CULTURE SYSTEMS. 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

17 Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit to Congress a report 

18 on the economic potential of land-based recirculating 

19 aquaculture systems, including— 

20 (1) an analysis of the land and other resources 

21 required for such systems; 

22 (2) a description of such systems that are in ex23 istence on the date of the enactment of this Act and 

24 an analysis of the of the economic impact of such 

25 systems; and 


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1 (3) an analysis of the potential beneficial uses 

2 of residual products from algal technologies as feed 

3 in fish aquaculture. 

Æ 


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