Shining a Light on Farmed Animals in Aquaculture

On September 19, 2025, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the next step on its “Road to Identifying Aquaculture Opportunity Areas,” mapping 13 Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) across 21,000 acres of federal waters of the Gulf of America and off Southern California. NOAA identified 10 locations in Southern California and 3 off the coast of Texas for potential offshore finfish, shellfish, and seaweed farms.

Currently, an estimated 130 billion farmed finfish and 550–600 billion farmed crustaceans are slaughtered globally each year. These numbers dwarf the number of terrestrial animals farmed for food, and are still rising. Offshore aquaculture is associated with serious animal welfare and environmental risks such as overcrowding, stressful handling and lack of humane slaughter requirements. Additionally, farmed fish can suffer from diseases and parasites which, in addition to causing immense suffering, could also potentially spread to wild fish stocks. Farmed fish escapes could affect existing biodiversity, and water pollution in surrounding oceanic ecosystems is a real risk. The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements issued by NOAA identify many of these risks. While the EIS’ themselves do not permit any farms, NOAA is actively facilitating potential offshore aquaculture by identifying AOAs where development may be appropriate in the future.

Lewis & Clark Law students and faculty are working hard to protect aquatic animals and oppose the expansion of offshore aquaculture in U.S. waters. In Spring 2025, Miranda Herreid, a student in the Farmed Animal Protection Project, submitted a public comment to the agency, highlighting her concerns about the development of AOAs in U.S. federal waters off of Southern California.

Regarding the latest development, Hira Jaleel, Visiting Assistant Professor at Lewis & Clark Law School says: “Currently, no federal law protects the welfare of farmed aquatic animals. Expanding aquaculture in U.S. federal waters without robust, enforceable welfare safeguards in place could subject countless sentient aquatic animals to factory-farm-like conditions in the open ocean.”

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. In addition to JD study, CALS offers an advanced degree program in-person and online. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from more than 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded Center within the law school operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.