The NMFS proposes to amend the Fishery Ecosystem Plans (FEP) for the American Samoa Archipelago, the Hawaii Archipelago, the Marianas Archipelago, the Pacific Remote Island Areas, and the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific. The amendments would establish a Federal management program for aquaculture fisheries in Federal waters of the U.S. exclusive economic zone of the Pacific Islands Region (PIR) and would include regulations for implementing the program. The intent of the proposed action is to manage commercial aquaculture production in these waters. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended the amendments recognizing the growing need and desire to develop aquaculture and the possibility of user conflicts and effects to the marine environment. The proposed action would apply to operators of aquaculture facilities in Federal waters of the PIR. NMFS would implement this action pursuant to the rulemaking authority under Section 303(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and implementing regulations at 50 CFR 600.330(c)(1).

The action would likely result in minor to moderate economic impacts. The impacts of implementing an aquaculture framework would directly affect aquaculture operations by streamlining the permitting process of developing new aquaculture operations. The action could also affect a number of sectors of the economy throughout the PIR, ranging from wild-capture fisheries, near-shore and on-shore aquaculture operations, employment, to seafood markets. However, numerous factors contribute to the uncertainty in forecasting the effects of developing an aquaculture framework, including uncertainty associated with what harvested products would be developed, what specific technology will be used for production, where the facilities will be located. NMFS predicts that, in the first five years that the framework is in place, two operations would operate under the framework as implemented.