S. 2586 — MARA Act of 2025

This section establishes the Office of Aquaculture within the headquarters of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ensures it receives sufficient resources and regional representation (including at least one coordinator per regional fisheries office), and assigns it duties to coordinate implementation of the Act—including administration of specified aquaculture research, assessment, and permitting programs—regulatory and scientific issues, Sea Grant outreach, performance standards for offshore aquaculture, and state agreements to extend certain offshore programs to state coastal waters. The section further directs NOAA to establish and fund an aquaculture research program leveraging existing NMFS, Sea Grant, and coastal science capacities to monitor permitted projects, conduct research, and administer industry support, centers of excellence, and required studies and reports; and requires the NOAA Administrator to include a separate line item requesting funding for the Office within NMFS in budget justification materials submitted to Congress pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1105.

This section directs the Administrator to establish, not later than 180 days after enactment, an assessment program to evaluate the viability of offshore aquaculture (i.e., commercial finfish farming in federal ocean waters) in light of technological advances and changing conditions, using best available science, stakeholder input, and data from permitted demonstration projects under section 202. At a minimum, the program must assess (1) the resilience of commercial-scale facility designs and operations to severe weather and ocean conditions without escapes, infrastructure damage, wildlife entanglements, or adverse effects on protected species under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, marine habitats, water quality, navigation, or other ocean users; (2) technologies for real-time monitoring of facility compliance, environmental impacts, and interference with existing ocean uses; and (3) relative risks, benefits, and costs across finfish species, geographies, and conditions. Not later than two years after program establishment, the Administrator must publish and submit to the National Academy of Sciences and Comptroller General a report describing permitted demonstration projects, information submitted for them, and progress toward the program's objectives.

This section directs the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue permits for demonstration projects for offshore aquaculture facilities (i.e., farming of fish and other marine species in federal waters) after establishing the assessment program under section 201. To be eligible, projects must (1) advance the section 201(a) objective; (2) cultivate only native or historically naturalized species posing minimal ecosystem harm; (3) incorporate practices minimizing escape, entanglement, and pollution risks; (4) include escape and infrastructure loss plans; (5) comply with the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and National Environmental Policy Act; (6) maximize compatibility with existing marine uses; (7) minimize antibiotics and pharmaceuticals; and (8) partner with specified land-grant colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, 1994 Institutions, or sea grant colleges. Permit applications must specify facility locations, operations, species, stock sources, ecosystem impact analyses, response plans for disasters and escapes, and other required information. The Administrator must publish a Federal Register notice within 90 days of application receipt, solicit public comments, and consider objections from governors or Tribal leaders of specially affected coastal jurisdictions (i.e., adjacent states or Tribes with support bases or likely significant effects). Priority goes to projects benefiting participants in agriculture, wild-caught fisheries, or aquaculture harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic or major disasters, or sited in Aquaculture Opportunity Areas per Executive Order 13921. The Administrator must collect associated socioeconomic data to support specified studies, reports, and assessments.

This section designates the Administration as the lead federal agency for providing information on federal permitting requirements for demonstration projects under section 202 (offshore aquaculture demonstration projects). It further requires the Administrator to convene informal consultations for prospective applicants with representatives from specified agencies—including the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, Department of Defense, and others as appropriate—while preserving applicants' ability to contact agencies directly. The section mandates a single, consolidated environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act for such projects, with the Administration (through the Office of Aquaculture) serving as lead agency, and directs all relevant federal agencies to coordinate permit reviews to provide a timely response within 180 days of application.

This section requires the owner or operator of a demonstration project permitted under section 202 to submit reports to the Administrator beginning one year after project commencement and annually thereafter until termination. The reports must include (1) production data; (2) information on interactions with wild species, mitigation measures, and results; (3) technology and practices used to monitor effluent, cage and gear integrity, and cultivated species health; (4) environmental and ecosystem impacts; (5) data for the Ocean Studies Board study under section 401; (6) demographic and other data to assess benefits to fishery stakeholders and coastal communities; (7) navigation and safety impacts on ocean users; and (8) additional information required by the Administrator. This section further directs the Administrator to provide technical assistance for compliance upon request and to establish an emergency reporting process for interactions with protected wild species.

This section establishes a rule of construction requiring any identification or consideration of impacts or effects on human health or the environment under this title to account for (1) cumulative impacts from all sources of emissions, discharges, or releases, past, present, or reasonably foreseeable; (2) characteristics of the affected environment and population that heighten vulnerability to pollution and health risks; and (3) actions or practices with discriminatory effects based on race, color, or national origin. The section further provides that permits for demonstration projects issued under section 202 do not supersede or substitute for other required federal or state authorizations. Finally, the section limits applicability of this title by excluding permit applications in process or permits in effect on the date of enactment.

This section directs the Administrator to support offshore aquaculture development by (1) establishing grant programs for marketing and promotion, in consultation with private sector stakeholders, and for workforce education and training, in consultation with operators, academic institutions, and the National Sea Grant College Program (potentially using Aquaculture Centers of Excellence); (2) organizing regional networks through each regional NOAA fisheries office to provide technical expertise, extension services, permit information, professional development, and outreach; (3) establishing and maintaining an aquaculture database within the Office of Aquaculture that includes research, technologies, best practices, and advisory recommendations while safeguarding confidential information and excluding such information from constituting a printed publication or prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a) or (b); (4) providing tailored technical assistance to facility operators through regional aquaculture coordinators; and (5) enhancing access to capital markets by providing financial institutions with science-based information and economic analyses on offshore aquaculture assets (e.g., equipment, permits, inventory, intellectual property), potentially in collaboration with other agencies.

This section directs the Administrator, not later than one year after enactment and in consultation with private sector aquaculture stakeholders, academic institutions, and the National Sea Grant College Program, to establish a grant program for covered institutions—defined as minority-serving institutions, Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions, historically Black colleges or universities, or Tribal colleges or universities (as defined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965)—to establish or enhance aquaculture curricula for undergraduate, graduate, or certificate programs. Grant recipients are designated as Aquaculture Centers of Excellence and may partner with other institutions of higher education, including those not eligible for grants under the program. Authorized activities include (1) training in aquaculture entrepreneurship skills such as offshore operations, business management, and market analysis; (2) natural and social science research in aquaculture and fisheries; (3) extension programs to educate communities and transfer research to stakeholders; and (4) career development such as apprenticeships, internships, and mentorships, with funds limited to direct implementation expenses. Authorizes $25 million for each of FY2026 through FY2030, to remain available until expended.

This section establishes a competitive grant program administered by the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, to support the commercial fishing, aquaculture, for-hire recreational fishing, and boatbuilding industries in coastal states. In awarding grants, the Secretary must give substantial weight to factors including a project's economic significance, waterfront access availability, utility, business plan, impacts on existing uses, community support, and property protection benefits; grants may not exceed 50% of total project costs and may be used to improve or protect privately owned real property or interests therein (e.g., easements) only from willing owners, with no eminent domain permitted. The section authorizes $20 million for each of FY2026 through FY2030.

This section directs the Administrator to conduct outreach on sustainable offshore aquaculture to promote understanding, science-based decision making, and commercial adoption, engaging (1) the general public, (2) community leaders, (3) governmental officials, (4) the business community, (5) the academic community, and (6) the nonprofit sector.

This section directs the Administrator to contract with the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to complete, not later than five years after establishing the assessment program under section 201, a study developing the scientific basis for efficient and effective regulation of offshore aquaculture (i.e., fish and seafood farming in federal offshore waters). The study must (1) identify optimal facility operations to limit environmental, wildlife, and human well-being effects (including siting guidance, stocking densities, and selective breeding); a science-based definition of responsible feed or inputs; potential adverse effects (e.g., from antibiotics, pollution, discarded equipment, wildlife interactions, disease spread, and non-sustainable inputs); mitigation methods and technologies; user conflicts and solutions; necessary data sources (including citizen science under 15 U.S.C. 3724(c) and Tribal/Indigenous traditional knowledge); and best practices for climate-adaptive siting and operations; and (2) recommend legislative or administrative actions on operations, adverse effect mitigation, sustainability standards, and adherence to international social responsibility, public health, and labor standards.

This section requires the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report examining the permitting, monitoring, and regulation of offshore aquaculture during the 15-year period ending on the date the Administrator establishes the assessment program under section 201, due not later than five years after such establishment date. The report, based on available literature, case studies, and aquaculture stakeholder input, must (1) assess the feasibility and potential positive and negative implications of designating a lead agency to issue offshore aquaculture permits in a timely manner; (2) identify lessons learned on specified topics, including the effects of aquaculture type, location, and regulatory framework on project success; state, tribal, and indigenous community involvement; safety protocols and risk mitigation (e.g., escape prevention, emergency response, compliance monitoring, and navigational aids); incentives to reduce adverse effects; synergies with wild-caught fisheries and other aquaculture; environmental effects; net economic and social benefits; marketplace impacts on wild-capture fisheries; mechanisms to enhance investment, workforce development, and equitable opportunities; research and funding needs; economic potential under various structures; sufficiency of existing regulations; and model regulatory standards; and (3) include recommendations on regulatory processes for permitting, monitoring, oversight, siting, operations, and decommissioning; safeguards and data collection to minimize impacts on coastal jurisdictions, fisheries, economies, and environments; federal agency coordination; stakeholder involvement (including specially affected coastal jurisdictions, local communities, fishery management councils, and waters users); incorporation of local and indigenous knowledge; necessary federal agency capabilities; and the effects of private rights of action or waiving sovereign immunity.