May 7, 2025
Representative Hal Rogers
Chair
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Representative Grace Meng
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chair Rogers and Ranking Member Meng,
AFS is the world’s oldest and largest professional society of fishery and aquatic scientists and managers. The society seeks to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science, promoting the development of fisheries professionals, and advocating for the use of best-available science in policy-making.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony for the Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. We are writing today in support of robust funding for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, $19 million for NOAA’s Office of Aquaculture, $5 million for the Aquaculture Cooperative Institute established in Fiscal Year 2024, $80 million for National Sea Grant Program, and $18 million for the Sea Grant Aquaculture program in Fiscal Year 2026.
We urge you to maintain appropriate funding and staffing to ensure that NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is able to sustainably manage our nation’s fisheries. The very foundation of natural-resources conservation in this country rests on science to inform decisions and is supported by a strong workforce of professionals to ensure sustainable use and enjoyment for all citizens. Our continued system of federal investment in natural resource conservation returns enormous dividends for the country and the world and is an economic engine for our national, state and local economies.
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
We urge you to support robust funding for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. The proposed draconian budget cuts to the agency for Fiscal year 2026 coupled with the severe reduction in the agency’s fisheries staff threatens the very foundation of sustainable U.S. fisheries.
Conducting stock assessments, development of annual catch limits, monitoring fisheries abundance and catch, researching into the impacts of our changing climate are all essential components of sustainable fisheries. The threatened 40% budget cut and continued layoffs and other attempts to reduce the workforce will cripple the agency and erode the knowledge, skills and experience needed to manage our nation’s fisheries.
The U.S. system ranks among the most successful in the world at preventing overfishing and rebuilding overfished stocks. Our precautionary management system must take into account changes in the ocean environment, including warming and acidification, that are altering ecosystems, changing stock productivities, and causing widespread shifts in the distribution of many exploited species. We must continue to research changing ocean conditions and shifting species distributions and population dynamics in the face of these changes. We must also continue to support healthy habitats and associated ecosystems. Failure to do so will put future fish stocks at risk, threaten the livelihoods of the next generation of fishermen and women, and put our coastal economies at great risk.
NOAA Aquaculture Support
AFS supports responsible and sustainable development of open ocean aquaculture in U.S. federal waters as a mechanism to reduce pressure on wild capture fisheries and as a climate-friendly form of protein production to meet the projected increases in demand for protein world-wide. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)’s Aquaculture Program coordinates across agencies towards a comprehensive regulatory foundation for open ocean aquaculture. We support the important siting analysis for future Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in federal waters, interagency coordination on National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), development of science-based tools and modeling, and associated economic development programs to support expansion of aquaculture into the Exclusive Economic Zone. We support $19 million for NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture for Fiscal Year 2026 and $5 million for Fiscal Year 2026 for the Cooperative Institute (CI) provided for in the Fiscal Year 2024 CJS Appropriations. In addition, we fully support the work of the National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science for its role in the development of the AOAs and the coastal planning tools it offers to assist managers, planners, and industry with
sustainable aquaculture development. We urge you to provide funding to maintain this program and support this important work.
National Sea Grant College Program and Sea Grant Aquaculture Program
The Sea Grant program is a federally funded network of 34 state- or territory-based programs that fund research and perform education and outreach work on coastal environmental and natural resource issues. Individual Sea Grant programs set research priorities based on local needs, often focusing on actionable science.
AFS supports this program due to its importance in addressing aquatic invasive species, aquaculture, and fisheries. The Sea Grant program has proven to be a cost-effective vehicle for leveraging local expertise and federal funds to address both theoretical and applied research in service of the public good.
We seek level funding of $80,000,000 for the National Sea Grant program and $18,000,000, for Sea Grant Aquaculture program, an increase to support developing sustainable marine aquaculture. We believe this program makes critical progress in advancing open ocean aquaculture in the U.S.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
Jeff Kopaska
Executive Director
