Agriculture and Aquatic Food Production
February 8th, 2009
California State Law defines aquaculture as a part of agriculture. Aquaculture is nationally an important component of the food supply of the United States. Several of the most important seafood consumption categories and the majority of market value for seafood products in California and the United States are now produced by aquaculture. Aquaculture is no longer a futuristic technology; it is an established seafood source that in the near future will dominate seafood supply as population increases and capture fisheries continue level or declining production rates.
As the most populous state, California consumes more seafood than any other state and yet as a proportion of national aquaculture production and on a per capita basis, its aquaculture production rate is declining. The California Aquaculture Association is acutely concerned that this tendency will leave California in a situation by which it produces a sharply declining proportion of the seafood that it consumes. We find this situation ironic in view of the immense agricultural resources within the state, the longest coastline in the western continental United States, and the highest seafood consumption in the country. We propose that, as a part of the food production system of the state and nation, California aquaculture deserves a balanced role in food production.
