‘Coastal Seaweed Farm Act of 2023’ to Support Alternative, Sustainable Agriculture

Press release from the Office of Congressman Huffman:

U.S. Representative Jared Huffman[Yesterday], Representative Jared Huffman (CA-02) and Mary Peltola (AK-at Large) introduced the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act of 2023. This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to produce a joint study evaluating the benefits and impacts of coastal seaweed farming and devise necessary metrics and regulations. The bill also creates the Indigenous Seaweed Farming Fund, a grant program that would reduce cost barriers for indigenous communities, emboldening them to participate in coastal seaweed farming.

“The climate is changing, and as we work to mitigate its impacts and reduce damage, we also have a responsibility to find smart, sustainable alternatives to how we do things. Coastal seaweed farming has tremendous potential to serve as a sustainable replacement in food products, fertilizer, and animal feed; and it comes with a myriad of benefits for coastal communities – supporting local economies, providing food security, and regenerating marine ecosystems,” said Rep. Huffman. “We also want to ensure equity in this field so that indigenous people can continue benefiting from the industry – so our bill creates a grant program to reduce cost barriers for native communities, many of whom have farmed seaweed for thousands of years.”

“Alaska and our Indigenous cultures have been leading the way in mariculture and responsible ocean harvesting for thousands of years,” said Rep. Peltola. “From seaweed to kelp to shellfish, Alaska has been at the forefront of what is now being called the blue economy. I’m proud to cosponsor this bill with my colleague, Representative Huffman, to establish a framework for applying Alaskans’ knowledge and experience to a burgeoning new industry. This act recognizes Alaska’s unique environment and the crucial relationships between our coastal and near-coastal communities, Tribal organizations, and Alaska Native Corporations, all of which are part of this sector. I believe that this bill can make a positive impact on issues of food security, sustainability, and ocean health, and I look forward to working on it together.”

Specifically, the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act directs NOAA and USDA to:

  • Study and publish a report on the benefits and impacts of coastal seaweed farming on the marine ecosystem.
  • Develop regulations and establish evaluation metrics based on the study to ensure coastal seaweed farming, siting, and operations maximize potential benefits and avoid adverse impacts on the ecosystem, wildlife, fisheries, and local communities.
  • Collaborate with the Interagency Working Group on Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge, states, tribes, local governments and other federal agencies on best practices.
  • Develop food safety regulations on farmed seaweed in coordination with the Food & Drug Administration.
  • Provide educational materials for the training of incoming coastal seaweed farmers, prioritizing indigenous communities after the study is complete.

The Coastal Seaweed Farm Act’s Indigenous Seaweed Farming Fund would provide grants to Indigenous communities to:

  • Support coastal seaweed farming, including for purchasing equipment, obtaining, planting, and operating a coastal seaweed farm as well as processing, transporting, and storing seaweed.
  • Use coastal seaweed farming for restorative ecological functions.
  • Require USDA and NOAA to provide outreach to eligible entities and solicit comments and recommendations on each stage of operation of the grant program.

Eligible entities include federally recognized Tribes, Native Villages, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Native people of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, state-recognized Tribes, and Alaska Native Corporations.

“Seaweed absorbs carbon pollution and acts as a nursery for the little fish that coastal birds rely on for food,” said Romaric Moncrieffe, marine conservation policy manager at National Audubon Society. “Seaweed farming is a new industry, and the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act will ensure that it starts off on the right foot, researching any potential impacts to birds, fisheries, and coastal habitats.”

“Various forms of seafood cultivation have taken place in North America for thousands of years. And yet as our climate and ocean conditions continue to change, new questions arise on how to support coastal cultures and economies into the future without compromising marine ecosystems. We applaud the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act for its science-based, responsible approach to studying the risks and opportunities from restorative seaweed farming and for its stakeholder-led approach that will reduce barriers for indigenous communities to participate in seaweed aquaculture,” said Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President, Political Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund.

“The New England Aquarium supports the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act of 2023 as an important step in the responsible development of the nation’s nearshore seaweed farming industry. The Act’s wide-ranging coverage provides for the consideration of impacts to wildlife associated with aquaculture gear and practices alongside consideration of inclusivity and workforce development. We commend Representative Huffman, Representative Peltola, and Senator Markey’s leadership as champions of a blue economy, a priority for the New England Aquarium as we ensure both the conservation of wildlife and the responsible development of the nation’s future in domestic aquaculture production,” said Dr. John Mandelman, Vice President and Chief Scientist of the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at New England Aquarium.

“If implemented with equity in mind, the Coastal Seaweed Farm Act can foster a new regenerative ocean farming economy, that is based on healing, restoration and mitigation, rather than just further extraction of our finite and precious natural resources. Ocean Farming can empower Indigenous communities to further local food security programs, be a part of a sustainable blue/green economy, while helping heal our ailing oceans,” said Dune Lankard, Native Conservancy Founder & President.

The bill is endorsed by the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Audubon Society, the New England Aquarium, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Don’t Cage Our Oceans, Native Conservancy, and the Urban Ocean Lab.

Text of the legislation can be found here.

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23 Comments
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Mica O'Herlihy
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Mica O'Herlihy
1 year ago

As a new seaweed farmer in Humbolt bay, this legislation is validating. We’ve been slugging away, going into massive debt with zero support from local ag and environmental agencies. Seaweed farming is expensive in California, permitting is insane, gear is expensive and very few people are educated on the importance of farming versus foraging it. Not only does it produce one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, it is an important and impactful environmental service. We spend much of our time educating folks about this. We are not backed by non profits or educational institutions, we are scrappy citizen farmers doing this work alone because we believe it’s a powerful and sustainable option to nourish Humboldt counties struggling economy and it’s belly. Cheers to reps Peltola and Huffman as well as Redheaded Blackbelt for bringing this to light.

Gary Whittaker
Guest
Gary Whittaker
1 year ago
Reply to  Mica O'Herlihy

You are over qualified.

THC
Member
THC
1 year ago
Reply to  Mica O'Herlihy

Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that government involvement is going to make it any easier or cheaper.

thetallone
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thetallone
1 year ago
Reply to  Mica O'Herlihy

Curious; what kind of seaweed do you farm?

mica oherlihy
Guest
mica oherlihy
1 year ago
Reply to  thetallone

right now were growing bull kelp.

Iliketables
Guest
Iliketables
1 year ago

Despite a half billion tons of CO2 being dumped into our atmosphere over the past 8 years, which accounts for 17% of all man-made CO2 emissions, the planet has been cooling, according to NOAA. That means carbon dioxide has no impact on global temperatures. Oh yeah, the ozone is repairing itself too.

D'Tucker Jebs
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Iliketables

Nope. NOAA says that global temperatures have risen 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/03/09/fact-check-misleading-data-claim-alleging-global-cooling-trend/6900454001/
It would be neat, though, to live in a world where we could just make things up and have them become true.
And the Ozone layer is healing because we’ve stopped using Ozone-destroying products.

Iliketables
Guest
Iliketables
1 year ago
Reply to  D'Tucker Jebs

I haven’t stopped using ozone-destroying products and neither has the rest of the world. Can you please state what those products you have stopped using are?

We didn’t have instruments to measure global temperatures in the 1800s. The internet was invented in my lifetime so there was no global connectivity to measure anything worldwide, there weren’t even satellites yet. Really? Like really? What technology did we have to measure anything worldwide in the 1880s? Please explain.

Last edited 1 year ago
Bozo
Guest
Bozo
1 year ago
Reply to  Iliketables

Ice Cores. Tree Rings. Pollen Counts. Written records, Analysis of land and ocean sediments. etc. Of course the last 200 years are just a blink of an eye in terms of geologic time, almost too short to count.
Read about Milankovitch Cycles. Global warming and cooling cycles due to the variations in the earths orbit, tilt and precession of the tilt. Another 50,000 years and we will be getting cool again. That is if we last, 10,000 years ago we were just emerging from cave-dwelling.
Wikipedia has a nice article about them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles

Tim
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Tim
1 year ago
Reply to  Iliketables

This applies here.

Screen Shot 2023-02-24 at 8.46.29 AM.png
THC
Member
THC
1 year ago
Reply to  D'Tucker Jebs

It’s interesting that they’re ignoring the ice core samples from Antarctica which chart the last six ice ages. According to the samples we have experienced one of the most moderate and coolest holocene period in known history. But even in recent history since the end of the last ice age there’s been much hotter periods Way before any kind of known human Industrial capabilities.

recent temp chart.jpg
D'Tucker Jebs
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  THC

Yes, the Earth’s temperature does change. But, since humans began the mas burning of fossil fuels, the Earth’s temperature began to increase rapidly and is now increasing 100 times faster than it otherwise would. It is increasing 10 times faster than at any other point in the last 65 million years, and is even increasing faster than it did leading up to the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event 250 million years ago when 90% of ocean life and 70% of land-based life went extinct.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/great-dying-permian-triassic-extinction-event-warning-humanity/

THC
Member
THC
1 year ago
Reply to  D'Tucker Jebs

So what caused the rapid Rises prior to humans even knowing what fossil fuels were? And why can I not find a single chart showing that temperatures are higher now than they were at any other Peak temperature in the last six ice ages.

Inter glacials.jpg
Mr. BearD
Member
Mr. Bear
1 year ago
Reply to  Iliketables

All lies.
NOAA:
Overall, the global annual temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.08°C (0.14°F) per decade since 1880 and over twice that rate (0.18°C / 0.32°F) since 1981. The 2021 Northern Hemisphere surface temperature was also the sixth highest on record.

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr. Bear

Humboldt could use a few more degrees hotter, climate change is a good thing. Too many negative Nancy’s here.

Iliketables
Guest
Iliketables
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr. Bear

Excellent you showed that you missed the point completely! Over the past 8 years temperatures have been decreasing. Not since 1880 when we had no equipment to measure said temperatures. We have dumped 17% of total man-made carbon emissions ever emitted in this short 8 year window. The point is that after 500 billion tons of carbon temps should keep rising and we all definitely shouldn’t be sitting under feet of snow right now.

All this data shows is that there is 0 and I repeat 0 correlation between carbon emissions and rising temperatures.

Last edited 1 year ago
D'Tucker Jebs
Member
1 year ago
Reply to  Iliketables

Nope again. “The last eight years are the warmest eight years since records began in the mid-1800s.”
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-no-global-warming-has-not-paused-over-the-past-eight-years/

Lone Ranger
Guest
Lone Ranger
1 year ago

I think we need to shoot down more balloons, crack me up.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
1 year ago

Really a Seaweed agency?

Just what we need, another study and another agency. When does it end? Pretty soon we will need and agency to study and regulate agencies.

Guess who pays for all these mini empires?

It is becoming insane.

ginny
Guest
ginny
1 year ago

SeaWEED? Hmmm…? Aquaculture good, Sea vegetable good, Seafood good. Kelp good.

Giant Squirrel
Guest
Giant Squirrel
1 year ago
Reply to  ginny

Maybe they can plant red abalone with their seaweed and we can get season open again. Better yet, convince consumers to enjoy urchins

Gary Whittaker
Guest
Gary Whittaker
1 year ago

How much is this save the seaweed crap going to cost us?
If you can get inmates to do the work, then I’ll get behind the idea. Otherwise how about getting on those infrastructure needs that are past due.

snowed in for daze
Guest
snowed in for daze
1 year ago

really people? we gotta try anything we can here…and sea weed is tasty and good for you! we are all gonna be eating bugs soon, enjoy those last few grassfed burgers while you can. cows’ll be dying the pastures of heat exhaustion and you’ll be fighting over whether or not its actually happening. also, thank you mr. huffman for noticing that the indegenous tribes should have first dibs…hope that actually happens.