California Aquaculture Association

The California Aquaculture Association and its membership advocate full compliance with California law. The association also supports reasonable legislation that enhances environmental quality. California is unique as a leading global economy that is at once a principal urban population center and the largest agricultural producer in the United States. The diversity and dimensions of the state create a complex setting in which the numerous interests have different perspectives regarding the role of agriculture, including aquaculture, and the regulation of environmental quality.

The California Aquaculture Association is a relatively small organization consisting of about 300 operators statewide. Most of them are small proprietor operated businesses. Though small by comparison to the rest of agribusiness, aquaculturalists provide a large variety of products using numerous kinds production systems with diverse resources. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to aquaculture ventures in California. We often find that we are denied permission to produce new products because they are non-indigenous species yet many of species that we do produce have been introduced to California including channel catfish, large-mouth bass, tilapia, carp, and even striped bass. We are denied permission by state law to culture native salmon in the Pacific Ocean and the access to marine resources is generally regulated is so stringently that many of us believe to be impractical.

As participants in defining regulation and in the legislative process, we find ourselves among much larger interests, including agriculture, fishing associations, and environmental advocacy groups. Because the California Department of Fish and Game, our lead agency in California government, is designated as the principal state environmental agency, its legislative and regulatory viewpoint is naturally influenced by public policy advocated by the environmental organizations and by its primary wildlife protection role. As a minority participant, we must rely on the fairness and good will of those participants and legislators who are disposed to consider our viewpoint in the context of numerous others.

Although we find many thoughtful colleagues in the CDFG and elsewhere in state government trying to fulfill statutory responsibility to ‘promote’ aquaculture in California, we conclude that declining aquaculture production is, at least in part, a result of excessive government regulation that creates a difficult entry barrier for new aquaculture producers by denying access to land and water resources and by creating hurdles to advances in aquaculture technology. We can only view the present regulatory climate as antagonistic to the future expansion of aquaculture in California. We hope to reverse this trend.

Although we acknowledge inherent difficulties that affect our governmental relations, we also submit that in many cases we have ultimate objectives and common goals that we share with our various colleagues in government and in the legislative arena. It is in this spirit that we intend to engage the issues that affect aquaculture. We also invite a dialogue and lively debate with non-governmental organizations at every opportunity that we might agree in a mutually beneficial viewpoint.