The reef of permits is real.We're charting it.
A new bottom lease in California takes 5 to 10 years and an EIR that can cost $150,000 to $500,000. Even changing the species on an existing lease takes 2 to 5 years. Small shellfish and seaweed farms can't survive those tides. Permit Reef is the chart, the compass, and the case for change — all in one tool.
$0
fees Permit Reef collects from farmers — this is a public-interest tool
1
California bay (Humboldt) currently makes subleasing actually possible
11
agencies a new open-ocean farm typically touches before approval
0
shellfish- or seaweed-specific EIR templates published by CA
What we're building
Four currents, one chart.
Permit Reef is a public tracker of a broken system and the tool that lets you survive it while we fix it. Every number you see is sourced. Every gap is named.
The Failures Tracker
Real dollar amounts and real timelines for every step in California's current permitting reef — and what we're proposing to fix it.
Open the trackerEIR & Permit Wizard
Pick a site, gear, and species — get a draft EIR, agency checklist, cost summary, and timeline you can actually download.
Start a draftBusiness Launch Hub
Co-ops, nonprofits, restoration funding, and the non-traditional pathways the textbooks skip. With federal compliance baked in.
Find your structureDashboard & Calendar
Save projects, track deadlines, watch fees stack up, and walk a real pathway to a permitted operation — without spreadsheets.
Preview the dashboardA note from the deck
"I spent a decade running a seaweed company in California. We didn't fail because the ocean said no. We failed because the paperwork said ‘maybe, in five years, for $300,000.'"
— The founder, formerly of Kelpful
Help this happen
Want California to actually have a working aquaculture permit path?
The Kelpful Coalition is the advocacy group pushing for the regulatory changes this tool depends on. Join them, and help us move Permit Reef from a chart of the problem to the actual solution.