Lisa Murkowski: “today I am reintroducing an important bill on a subject that was not resolved last year, and which continues to be an…”

“today I am reintroducing an important bill on a subject that was not resolved last year, and which continues to be an outstanding issue for those of us who are dependent on healthy and productive natural populations of ocean fish and shellfish. Simply put, this bill prohibits further movement toward the development of aquaculture facilities in Federal waters until Congress has had an opportunity to review all of the serious implications, and make decisions on how such development should proceed. For years, some members of the Federal bureaucracy have advocated going forward with offshore aquaculture development without that debate. While the administration has entertained some level of public input, the role of Congress must not be undermined. Doing so, would be an extraordinarily bad idea. The Administration is in the final stages of preparing a bill to allow offshore aquaculture development to occur, and it plans to send the bill to Congress in the very near future. In the last Congress, the Administration proposed legislation to provide a regulatory framework for the development of off-shore aquaculture. While their draft bill is an improvement, it still does not establish clear mandatory environmental standards for the aquaculture industry. I remain steadfast that any proposal should meet the standards of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Jones Act.”