By Julia Robins, Virginia Sea Grant Student Correspondent
On November 16th, aqua- farmers, academics, lobbyists, and more gathered at the 2013 Virginia Aquaculture Conference to discuss the debated question: Is aquaculture agriculture?
“It’s about as clear as mud,” says Trey Davis, referring to Virginia’s policy and state code definitions for aquaculture and agriculture. Davis, the Assistant Director of Government Relations for the Virginia Farm Bureau Foundation, says that “when [the definition] was written and the purpose it was used for depends on whether the legislators at that point in time thought aquaculture was agriculture or not.”
In the end, there are many definitions for aquaculture or agriculture, and none of them are universal.
Defining aquaculture as agriculture seems logical. Both farmers and aqua-farmers plant and manage crops. Both find their crops at the mercy of weather and environmental conditions. But because legislation does not specifically call-out fish and shellfish as agricultural products the way chickens and beef are, the door is left open for interpretation.
Without a clear definition, aqua-farmers might need to apply for permits or come under attack in ways that traditional farms don’t. In Virginia, where shellfish aquaculture is approaching the value of traditional crops like tomatoes, the uncertainty could hamper growth.
Davis says addressing the definitions through future legislation, such as the Right to Farm Act, will help protect aquaculture.
“The Right To Farm Act, in addition to making sure that you’re not classified as a nuisance, also makes sure that you don’t have to get a special-use or conditional-use permit,” says Davis.
“You want to be in a position to be eligible for a lot of federal programs under that area of aquaculture,” says Gary Jensen of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture. “I cannot find any law that says that aquaculture is agriculture, but I will also argue that you cannot find any law that says that raising beef is agriculture, or raising cotton is agriculture, because it’s really implied as part of the definition of agriculture.”
Jensen says the proposed 2013 Farm Bill relates aquaculture to agriculture, which gives Virginia watermen something to look forward to. “At least through the USDA’s lens,” says Jensen, “aquaculture is agriculture.”
