Who we are
The South Carolina Seafood Alliance is a not for
profit trade organization promoting the sustainable catching
and/or production of seafood in state and from the adjacent
ocean waters. Reference to local South Carolina
seafood as used here includes fresh and saltwater
aquaculture and wild-caught seafood. The Alliance
serves the consumers and seafood industry by encompassing
all aspects of the system with a diverse board of directors
representing producers, commercial docks, wholesale, retail
and environmental concerns..
There are three distinct and somewhat overlapping zones where South Carolina aquatic products are harvested and grown. Fresh water fish are grown in many areas of the state. Mariculture is the growing of fish, shrimp and shellfish in saltwater on land and in the ocean in state controlled ocean waters out to three miles. The third area of production is in the open ocean within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and it is from 3 to 200 nautical miles offshore. This area is controlled by the federal government. South Carolina's freshwater fish and mariculture products plus the harvest from the open ocean provides the State's citizens with an abundant supply of good tasting, safe, healthy, high quality protein.
The U.S. EEZ
The
United States EEZ extends 200 nautical miles offshore,
encompassing diverse ecosystems and vast natural
resources, such as fisheries, energy and other mineral
resources. The U.S. EEZ is the largest in the
world, divning over 13,000 miles of coastline and
containing 3.4 million square nautical miles of ocean,
larger than the combined land area of all fifty states.
Yet over 80% of all seafood consumed in this country is imported.