EXTRA...

New battle looming over offshore fish farms? Nantucket Sound?

Fish farms in federal waters
Another environmental vs. fiscal battle
Will the MMS have another task if this bill passes congress?

Local fishing advocates are split over whether a federal push to encourage fish farming in American waters would help recovering stocks or would be an environmental and navigational danger.

A bill in Congress would make it easier to start fish farms by creating a streamlined permitting process in federal waters, which stretch from 3 to 200 miles offshore, though it would allow the adjoining coastal state veto power over any proposal 12 miles or closer to its shores.

Fish farms, or aquaculture, are large areas of ocean, usually measured in square miles, fenced in with barges and containing underwater tubular or conical nets that keep fish in one location...  There is a salmon farm off the coast of Maine, and Massachusetts has many shellfish farms around Cape Cod and the islands that produce quahogs and cherrystone clams. In the U.S., much of the domestic farm-raised fish are freshwater species, such as catfish and tilapia....  Read the rest of this Gloucester Times story here.   Leave a comment
_____________________________

Bush Administration to roll out offshore Fish Farm bill today 

The Bush administration is expected to unveil a new proposal today to create the United States' first permitting system for fish farms in deep ocean waters.

According to sources, the bill would include more environmental requirements than a previous version the administration put forward in 2005, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is expected to unveil the new legislation at the Boston Seafood Show this afternoon.  The bill would create a permitting system to allow operators to sink fish cages in federal waters between three miles and 200 miles offshore. There are currently four small-scale offshore fish farms in the United States, and all are in state waters...

According to Bill Hogarth, "the Secretary and I will be in Boston Monday where the Secretary will announce the Administrations Offshore Aquaculture Bill. The Secretary is very supportive of having the United States increase its aquaculture production as a means of increasing jobs and helping to reduce the trade deficit. I will report next week on details from the Seafood Show.  We are also looking into the possibility of introducing some aquaculture pilots as a means for getting support for the aquaculture bill...  Read the rest of this Coastal Conservation Association story here.   Leave a comment
_____________________________

Sushi grade fish farming in Hawaii
Will fishermen approve of these towers in The Sound?

There is already one very successful offshore fish farm in the Pacific, Kona Blue.   The process of farming Kona Kampachi™ begins with broodstock in their land-based hatchery. Eggs are collected from land-based broodstock tanks and are placed into separate tanks where they hatch within 24 hours.

Within a few days from hatching, the extremely small, newly hatched fish need very specific types of live feed to grow.  Within six weeks of hatching in the land-based hatchery, the Kona Kampachi are transferred to offshore cages ½ mile off the Kona Coast. The fish are nurtured in these deep water fish farms for another 8 to 10 months, being regularly fed and bathed in this pristine water with brisk open ocean currents.  The result is sushi grade fish farmed anywhere offshore.

What happens to the fish farm platform afterwards? 

Currently, the leases that allow oil drilling in federal waters require that oil companies remove their platforms within one year of the platform’s retirement. The “rigs-to-reef” program was born at the state level after oil companies began promoting legislation that would allow them to avoid the costly procedure of rig removal by leaving the submerged component in the ocean to serve as an artificial reef.

According to Chevron representative Ayana McIntosh-Lee, it can cost up to $5 million to remove platforms in the EEZ, while, according to Granvil Treece, an aquaculture specialist at Texas Sea Grant, it costs only $800,000 to convert the platform into an “artificial reef.” Additionally, when oil companies convert their platforms into artificial reefs, the company absolves itself of responsibility for future damage or liability. To date, rigs-to-reef programs have become active in Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. The issue is currently being debated at the federal level.  Leave a comment