Bad Trade

Perhaps the most frequently used argument in support of offshore aquaculture is that it can help close the U.S. seafood trade deficit, which rose to an all-time high of $9.2 billion in 2006. The country imported $13.4 billion in seafood last year, up from $5 billion in 1990. Meanwhile, exports have remained essentially flat in recent years.^{101, 102}

A closer look at the problem reveals that increasing production of the type of fish grown by the nation‚ offshore aquaculture facilities likely will offer no relief.

Most of the fish raised by the operations in Hawaii and Puerto Rico are high-priced fish served in fine dining restaurants and sushi bars. The major seafood imports, however, are all common seafood types available at most mainstream grocery stores and restaurants. The top imports are shrimp, salmon, crabs, tilapia, tuna, and shellfish. Three types—shrimp, salmon and crabs—accounted for about two-thirds of the seafood import growth from 1990 to 2004.¹⁰³

The University of New Hampshire is working to raise haddock, halibut, and cod. These varieties hold more potential to replace some imports, but this is not a commercial operation, and it produces very small quantities of fish.

NOAA is also overlooking the fact that the seafood trade deficit could be reduced by increasing consumption of domestic fish. Simply put, the United States can become less reliant on imports if more domestic fish is eaten domestically.

The United States exports 71 percent of its domestic production, including 87 percent of tilapia, 78 percent of tuna, 69 percent of salmon, 25 percent of crabs, and 13 percent of shrimp. Ironically, these all are among the six top seafood imports. Exporting fewer of these varieties would reduce demand on imports and lower the seafood trade deficit.

Significantly increasing the amount of production that is consumed domestically and reducing exports of domestic seafood would make the United States more self-sufficient for many varieties. For flatfish such as flounder, halibut and sole, the United States could increase self-sufficiency from 51 to 118 percent; for cod from 34 to 85 percent; and for salmon from 20 to 63 percent.¹⁰⁴