Blog

Courtesy of NAA:

NOAA Appoints MAFAC Aquaculture Task Force

The Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC) and NOAA Fisheries announced the formation of a new Task Force to support MAFAC Subcommittee work on the important topic of aquaculture.  Interest was high and 11 individuals were selected for the Aquaculture Task Force.  Applications were received from a strong pool of highly qualified individuals who represented a diversity of backgrounds, expertise, skill sets, gender, and regional perspectives.

The new members of the Aquaculture Task Force are:

Megan Davis – Interim Executive Director, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute/Florida Atlantic University.

John Forster – President, Forster Consulting, Inc.
Joe Hendrix – President/Founder, SeaFish Mariculture.
Gary Jensen – Former National Program Lead for Aquaculture, US Department of Agriculture.
Jeff Lotz – Director, Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center, University of Southern Mississippi.
George Nardi – General Manager, Golden Eagle Sable Fish Inc.
Brian O’Hanlon – Founder/Chief Technical Officer, Ocean Blue Sea Farms.
Paul Olin – Aquaculture Specialist, University of California Sea Grant Extension Program.
Neil Sims – Co-Founder & CEO, Kampechi Farms, LLC.
Lisa Tucker – Aquaculture Research Analyst, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.
Paul Zajicek – Development Director, National Aquaculture Association.

The Task Force will assist NOAA in developing and implementing policies that enable marine aquaculture and work to ensure that aquaculture complies with existing federal laws and regulations that NOAA enforces under its marine stewardship mission.

Example tasks for the new Task Force include: review of NOAA’s progress on implementing the agency’s 10-Year Plan for Marine Aquaculture (from 2007), priorities to include in strategic planning for the aquaculture program, and support NOAA’s work with the Regulatory Task Force of the Interagency Working Group on Aquaculture.

For additional information, visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ocs/mafac/.