May 26, 2020 — The aquaculture industry may be getting a kick start from the federal government, due in part to the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump issued an executive order on May 7 designed to support and promote domestic aquaculture, an industry that has struggled to gain its footing in California.
Aquaculture is the practice of breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish and aquatic plants. The industry lies at the cross-section of farming and fisheries. According to the California Aquaculture Association, 80-90% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported and approximately half of that is produced through aquaculture.
Though not prominent along California’s central coast, there are aquaculture enterprises right under our noses — in Monterey, that includes right under Municipal Wharf No. 2. The Monterey Abalone Company runs California’s only in-Ocean Abalone farm, occupying the space below the pier that was previously left to sea lions and waves.
But U.S.-based aquaculture makes up very little of the market. “We are the second-largest consumer of seafood in the world,” says California Sea Grant Aquaculture Specialist Luke Gardner, “but produce far less than 1% of the aquaculture produced seafood.”