Bill would allow fish farming in GoM

 A bill introduced in Congress on Sept. 24 would open the Gulf of Mexico and other federal waters to offshore fish farming, an idea backed by the Trump administration, but opposed by environmental groups and some in the seafood industry that depend on wild fisheries. Bill sponsors included Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). The Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act aims to accomplish what a recent federal court decision said was impossible without congressional intervention. Last month, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans blocked federal rules to allow offshore fish farming for the first time in the Gulf, considered potentially a prime area for raising high-value fish in large floating pens. The court said federal regulators lack the authority to “create an entire industry” not mentioned in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fisheries since 1976. The AQUAA Act would do just that. (Source: NOLA.com 09/28/20) https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_f2dd0cea-01b3-11eb-a7bb-ff7f70acd02d.html