State Marine Aquaculture Policy Dashboard improves transparency and accessibility for growing industry

Marine aquaculture (mariculture), the farming of marine species, is currently a relatively small contributor to the United States' seafood industry. There is tremendous potential for growth in this sector and increasing interest in advancing the industry through supportive federal and state policies as well as concerns about how to best manage potential negative impacts or unsustainable development. While some mariculture is conducted in land-based tanks as well as saltwater ponds, and there are pilot projects and ongoing applications to commence mariculture operations in federal waters, the majority of mariculture activities occur within state waters (typically, 3 nautical miles, or 5.5 kilometers, from shore) and are largely managed by state-level policies and regulations. The policy mechanisms by which each of the 23 coastal states manages their respective mariculture industries are quite varied, making it difficult to identify policy trends and assess which approaches may be enabling or impeding the development of the sector. As such, we present the State Marine Aquaculture Policy Dashboard: a publicly-available, living database collating state-level policy and legislative data related to the management of the mariculture industry. This centralized, accessible catalog of laws, policies, regulations, and initiatives is a valuable resource for understanding the current landscape of state mariculture policy frameworks in the U.S. and can create opportunities for policy transfers and collaboration across states as they seek to manage their industries.