Stopping Industrial Aquaculture Pollution of Our Oceans (NWP 56)
Center for Food Safety successfully challenged Nationwide Permit 56, a federal permit that would have authorized industrial offshore fish farming structures in U.S. ocean waters without adequate environmental review or protections for marine ecosystems from the harms of industrial aquaculture.
What Is Nationwide Permit 56?
Nationwide Permit 56 (NWP 56) was a federal permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that authorized industrial finfish aquaculture structures in federal ocean waters across the United States.
The permit would have allowed large-scale offshore fish farming operations to occupy large swaths of our ocean waters through a streamlined approval process, threatening marine ecosystems, endangered species, Tribal Nations, fishing communities, and public waters.
Nationwide Permit 56 Litigation
In 2022, Center for Food Safety and a coalition of conservation, Tribal, fishing, and community organizations challenged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permit 56 permitting scheme.
Plaintiffs argued the Corps failed to properly assess impacts to marine ecosystems, endangered species, water quality, fishing communities, and Tribal Nations, as required by federal law.
In 2024, a federal court ruled that the permit violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. In 2025, the court vacated Nationwide Permit 56, making the permit null and void. The federal government later declined to appeal, making the victory final.
The decisions prevented the nationwide expansion of industrial offshore fish farming through NWP 56 and reaffirmed that federal agencies must comply with environmental laws before authorizing new industries in public waters.
Despite intense lobbying efforts by proponents, Congress has never passed a law authorizing industrial aquaculture in the U.S. federal waters thanks to Center for Food Safety’s campaigns on this issue.
Nationwide Permit 56 and Our Work
Industrial fish farming can threaten marine ecosystems through pollution, disease transmission, escaped farmed fish, and habitat degradation.
Offshore aquaculture projects can impact traditional fishing grounds, food security, and the livelihoods of coastal and Tribal communities.
Center for Food Safety led a coalition challenge to Nationwide Permit 56 and successfully demonstrated that the Army Corps failed to comply with core environmental laws before authorizing industrial fish farming in federal waters.
Federal courts ruled Nationwide Permit 56 unlawful and ultimately vacated the permit, preventing its future use and protecting U.S. ocean waters from industrial aquaculture expansion. This was a major, groundbreaking victory in protecting federal ocean waters from these massive, polluting aquaculture operations.
