Aquacultural Marketing Law

Abstract

The identification and analysis of state-imposed legal and institutional constraints to aquaculture are essential if the industry is to reach its potential in the north central region of the U.S. An ordinal classification matrix was developed for the purpose of placing state-level marketing regulations in a regional context, thus allowing researchers, regulators, and aquaculturists to analyze these policy alternatives systematically. The matrix highlights the different approaches being taken with respect to the regulation of aquacultural marketing, provides a ranking of states based upon relative degree of regulatory control, and serves as the basis for discussion and debate about the reformulation of state aquaculture policy. A major source of controversy among producers and regulators is the amount of control over private aquaculture given to natural resource agencies. Issues include species availability, importation regulations, and annual reporting.