A $12 million research program should be initiated by the federal government to boost the United States' marine aquaculture, or ocean "fish farming" industry, which is lagging far behind its international counterparts, according to a report released this week by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. The report, titled "Marine Aquaculture: Opportunities for Growth," was prepared by a committee chaired by Robert B. Fridley, executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Fridley is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the former director of the UC Davis Aquaculture and Fisheries Program. The Davis campus, which administers the Bodega Marine Laboratory north of San Francisco, has a strong core of researchers involved in marine studies, including oyster culture. "With so much attention in the United States now focused on diet and health, total sales and per capita consumption of fish have gone up," Fridley said. "But as a nation we have been unable to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demand and are becoming more and more dependent on imported seafood. It is doubtful that capture fisheries, which appear to be reaching the natural limit, can meet demands of the future." Marine aquaculture refers to the farming of ocean finfish, shellfish, crustaceans and seaweed. The aquaculture industry is thriving worldwide, with a reported annual yield of 14 million metric tons of marine and freshwater food products valued at approximately $22.5 billion in 1988, according to the NRC report. The United States, however, produces only 2 percent of that total yield, contributing just 210,000 metric tons of freshwater products and 79,000 metric tons of marine products in 1988. The report attributes the United States' weak showing in marine aquaculture, in part, to insufficient federal funding of the National Aquaculture Act passed by Congress in 1980. Also inhibiting growth have been the high cost of ocean and coastal space for aquaculture enterprises, public concern over environmental effects of fish farming, conflicts with boaters and fisherman, aesthetic objections to net or cage facilities and ecological worries concerning disease transmission or possible genetic dilution of wild stocks. "Marine aquaculture must be environmentally sound and acceptable to the public if it is to become a major provider of seafood," Fridley stressed. "A focused research and development effort is needed to devise systems that are sustainable and profitable." Citing the benefits of creating new jobs, improving the international trade balance, providing a reliable source of seafood and relieving pressure on populations of threatened fish species, the report urges that the U.S. Department of Agriculture strengthen its leadership role for federal activities supporting marine aquaculture. The report also recommends that: • research by experts from many disciplines be conducted to develop technological solutions to environmental, economic and biological problems currently hampering the industry; • activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Sea Grant program, be better coordinated; • marine aquaculture be explicitly included in the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, which protects and manages coastal areas; • procedures be established to encourage leasing and development of commercial aquaculture activities in federal waters; • ecological zones, rather than state boundaries, be used when regulating movement of live fish in order to avoid unnecessary restriction of aquaculture, while maintaining environmental protection of native species; and • a House Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture be established by Congress. The marine aquaculture report was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under a cooperative agreement between the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Academy of Sciences.