The U.S. Congress should enact legislation that sets strong environmental standards for offshore marine aquaculture, the Marine Aquaculture Task Force recommended in a recent report. Aquaculture now accounts for about half of all seafood consumed in the world, and the industry is rapidly growing and expanding into regions offshore (more than 3 nautical miles from the coast) that are controlled by the federal government. The task force, which was organized by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, examined the risks and benefits of marine aquaculture. They proposed that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration be appointed the lead agency responsible for regulation of offshore marine aquaculture and for providing incentives for research and development. The main environmental standard proposed by the task force was to limit farming only to native species with local genetics unless the potential harm of escaped fish to local populations would be negligible.