Aquaculture Lobby Group Opposes Coast Guard’s Proposed Atlantic Shipping Safety Fairways

Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) has submitted a comment letter opposing the U.S. Coast Guard’s proposed Atlantic Shipping Safety Fairways.

The proposal would establish shipping safety fairways and related vessel routing measures along the Atlantic coast, from Long Island, New York, to Port St. Lucie, Florida. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the fairways are intended to preserve safe and reliable vessel transit along established shipping routes while improving navigation safety.

SATS argues that the proposal would significantly limit opportunities for offshore aquaculture development.

According to the coalition, the proposed fairways “would likely have the effect of preventing all or most open ocean aquaculture development on the Eastern Seaboard, with the Gulf of Maine being the first in a line of proposed fairways.”

In its comment letter, SATS contends the proposal would:

• Establish overly broad navigation corridors that remove much of the limited federal waters suitable for open-ocean aquaculture.
• Undermine federal efforts to identify Aquaculture Opportunity Areas and expand domestic seafood production.
• Increase uncertainty for projects currently moving through the federal permitting process, including proposed developments in the Gulf of Maine.

SATS further stated that the proposed fairway configuration, particularly Fairway Zones 2 and 3, would materially impair or effectively foreclose commercially viable open-ocean aquaculture development across much of the Gulf of Maine federal waters region. According to the coalition, the proposal does not merely reduce siting flexibility but instead eliminates functional siting options for open-ocean aquaculture in federal waters by converting the region’s limited viable footprint into an exclusionary navigation area.

The coalition is urging the Coast Guard to adopt the “No Action” alternative.

SATS also noted that the bipartisan Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act of 2025 (S.2586/H.R.5746) would advance open-ocean aquaculture in U.S. waters by building on years of bipartisan efforts and incorporating key provisions from previous legislation, including the AQUAA Act.

About SATS

Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) is a coalition representing companies across the seafood supply chain that advocates for increased U.S. production of healthy, sustainable and affordable seafood. The aquaculture lobby group supports expanding aquaculture in U.S. federal waters.

In its submission to the Coast Guard, SATS states that it objects to the creation of broad, exclusive navigation fairways in the Gulf of Maine and other areas along the Atlantic coast. The coalition maintains that these proposed fairways would unnecessarily restrict future offshore aquaculture development and therefore supports the “No Action” alternative outlined in the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).

Read SATS’ comment letter for additional details.