More and more health-conscious Americans are eating seafood. This increased demand comes at a time when many fishermen are struggling to make a living off wild fisheries. Aquaculture has been viewed by some as the sustainable evolution of fishing, while others fear it has the potential to do environmental harm.
The cover article of this edition of Coastal Services takes a look at how one state is managing aquaculture operations. During the mid 1990s, Massachusetts undertook a comprehensive initiative to understand and address the issues of this relatively young industry. As a result of their efforts, regulations, education, and public support for aquaculture have improved in the state. There is much we can learn from their experience.
NOAA and the Department of Commerce are currently undertaking a major effort to create a consistent and practical framework for encouraging environmentally sustainable aquaculture.
Work is focusing on reducing pressure on wild stocks, providing commercially viable alternative economic activities to traditional fisheries-based communities, and creating new economic opportunities in economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. To find out more about these efforts, point your browser to www.lib.noaa.gov/docaqua/frontpage.htm. You can also find a comprehensive bibliography of aquaculture publications funded by the National Sea Grant College program at www.nsgo.seagrant.org/research/.
Ocean exploration is another area where NOAA is taking a leading role. Education and discovery will go hand-in-hand this fall as educators and scientists explore deepwater habitats on two NOAA Voyages of Discovery.
Working with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, NOAA will use submersibles to investigate important deepwater resources off the Atlantic coast and transmit information back to classrooms.
At the conclusion of these cruises, several of the ships will dock together in Charleston, South Carolina, to give students and members of the public the opportunity to tour the vessels and meet the scientists they have been conversing with. The lessons learned will be expanded upon during future missions and will help our nation's children discover the ocean frontier.
-- Margaret A. Davidson
