Chapter 13
Offshore Platforms and Mariculture
in the US
Jeffrey B. Kaiser and Michael D. Chambers
Abstract Global demand for seafood is increasing. Supply from wild caught
sources has been essentially flat for twenty years and, depending on the specific
fishery, in decline for many species that are considered fully exploited or
over-exploited. As the fastest growing sector of world food production, aquaculture
is increasingly playing a major role and currently accounts for nearly half of the
total aquatic production worldwide. Marine cage culture in particular provides an
opportunity to utilize vast amounts of the world’s surface area to produce fish,
shellfish, and plants, while avoiding land-use conflicts in crowded coastal regions.
Currently in the US, very small volumes of marine fish are produced and very large
volumes are imported. This trend shows no signs of slowing down with an ever
increasing annual seafood trade deficit. In an effort to initiate more domestic production, private companies, research institutions, and government agencies have all
been involved in various types of aquaculture production. Aquaculture can be
generally categorized as land-based, near shore, or offshore. Offshore marine fish
culture utilizing cages has been conducted on both the east and west coast of the US
as well as in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Specifics on the projects in the GoM are
described in the following sections.
13.1 Background
The world’s population is estimated to be approaching 9 billion people by 2050.
UN estimates project the total global food supply will need to increase by 70% to
keep up with demand and the growth of a larger and more urban population
J.B. Kaiser (&)
Marine Science Institute’s Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory,
The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA
e-mail: jeff.kaiser@utexas.edu
M.D. Chambers
School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering,
University of New Hampshire, Morse Hall, Room 164, Durham, NH, USA
© The Author(s) 2017
B.H. Buck and R. Langan (eds.), Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites
in the Open Ocean, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51159-7_13
375
Offshore Platforms and Mariculture
in the US
Jeffrey B. Kaiser and Michael D. Chambers
Abstract Global demand for seafood is increasing. Supply from wild caught
sources has been essentially flat for twenty years and, depending on the specific
fishery, in decline for many species that are considered fully exploited or
over-exploited. As the fastest growing sector of world food production, aquaculture
is increasingly playing a major role and currently accounts for nearly half of the
total aquatic production worldwide. Marine cage culture in particular provides an
opportunity to utilize vast amounts of the world’s surface area to produce fish,
shellfish, and plants, while avoiding land-use conflicts in crowded coastal regions.
Currently in the US, very small volumes of marine fish are produced and very large
volumes are imported. This trend shows no signs of slowing down with an ever
increasing annual seafood trade deficit. In an effort to initiate more domestic production, private companies, research institutions, and government agencies have all
been involved in various types of aquaculture production. Aquaculture can be
generally categorized as land-based, near shore, or offshore. Offshore marine fish
culture utilizing cages has been conducted on both the east and west coast of the US
as well as in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Specifics on the projects in the GoM are
described in the following sections.
13.1 Background
The world’s population is estimated to be approaching 9 billion people by 2050.
UN estimates project the total global food supply will need to increase by 70% to
keep up with demand and the growth of a larger and more urban population
J.B. Kaiser (&)
Marine Science Institute’s Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory,
The University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX, USA
e-mail: jeff.kaiser@utexas.edu
M.D. Chambers
School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering,
University of New Hampshire, Morse Hall, Room 164, Durham, NH, USA
© The Author(s) 2017
B.H. Buck and R. Langan (eds.), Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites
in the Open Ocean, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51159-7_13
375