More than 420 entities, ranging from fishing groups to aquaculture producers, are urging Congress to reject the Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act of 2025, which would open the door to industrial-scale fish farms.
On Feb. 3, the group, including environmentalists, university professors, and seafood firms nationwide, sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the House Committee on Natural Resources. They contend that MARA creates a one-way path to permanent, large-scale offshore fish farms, with no off-ramps.
"If the MARA Act passes, the only real 'experiment' will be on the communities that will lose access to their fisheries, the nearby marine life exposed to filth and fish viruses, the consumers who eat these farmed products and, sadly, the farmed fish themselves," said Jason Jarvis, a commercial fisherman in Rhode Island and president of the board of the North American Marine Alliance.
MARA has been read twice and referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee," Jarvis said on Sunday, Feb. 8, in an interview with National Fisherman. Jarvis said that he and several others would travel to Washington, D.C., Feb. 10-12 to meet with staff of members of Congress, including Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the bill's initial sponsor.
"We are at a point of corporate takeover of everything," said Jarvis, who also serves on the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council.
"If you want food security, you need more control over the source of your food," Jarvis said. "This whole industrialization of everything is marginalizing the harvest of wild seafood. A lot of people depend on going to the grocery store several times a week, and if you don't have a local food supply, you are in trouble."
Signers of the letter opposing MARA include Don't Cage Our Oceans, a coalition of fishing community leaders, seafood businesses, conservation groups, chefs, and small-scale aquaculture farmers
The group does support the Keep Finfish Free Act, introduced in 2025 by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. The aim of that measure is to prohibit federal agencies from issuing permits for industrial finfish aquaculture operations in federal waters (three to 200 nautical miles off U.S. shores) without explicit approval from Congress.
The Keep Finfish Free Act is a reintroduction of efforts to stop the expansion of offshore fish farms, with similar initiatives previously introduced in the House. The bill has support from a number of environmental groups. The previous Keep FinFish Free Act of 2021 was introduced in the House by the late Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.
