Posted on 07/22/2007 7:17:08 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
Fishermen who offload at Shrimp Landing in Crystal River could share the Gulf of Mexico someday with huge cages growing what they now go out and catch.
Robert Gill, owner of the fish house and commercial dock, said fishermen might fret about competition from fish farming if they weren't so worried about dwindling domestic stocks and rising imports that now account for 80 percent of seafood on American plates.
About half those imports come from foreign fish farms. The United States shares less than 1 percent of a $70 billion global aquaculture business. To Gill that means the United States is letting a big catch get away.
Pressure on domestic seafood from imports has prompted Congress to inch toward allowing fish farms in federal waters, a debate that has lingered for years. People on all sides of the issue say open-ocean aquaculture off the U.S. coast is a matter of when and how - not if - given America's place in the global seafood market.
"If that's to be permitted,'' said Gill, a member of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, "one has to be concerned with what can we allow and what we must not allow.''
The United States has been paralyzed by fears about environmental contamination, food safety, and competition with fishermen. A coalition of fishing groups, mostly from Alaska, and watchdog groups opposes legislation pressed by the Bush administration to open federal waters to fish farming.
A similar bill sank last year, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week gave significant ground that could quiet some complaints. Federal officials and observers said the concession reflects the importance of moving forward and it increases the odds that legislation will pass this time.
Moreover, the Gulf council held public hearings on its own proposal to allow aquaculture in federal waters off Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. If the council adopts the plan, it could force federal action on rules to employ its proposal.
The issue gained momentum with the recent Food and Drug Administration blockade of five farm-raised fish species from China that were found to contain prohibited antibiotics and chemicals. That ban spotlights the foreign origins of four out of every five fish on Americans' plates.
"If we're concerned about dog and cat food and children's toys, think of how much seafood we buy from China and South America,'' Dr. Kevan Main, director of the Center for Aquaculture Research and Development at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, said of other recent Chinese products found to be unsafe. "There's quite a bit ... They're not regulated like things are here.''
Fish wish
Fish farming is expanding around the world to cope with demand and dwindling wild stocks.
Aquaculture has grown in the United States as well, but it is limited to species such as catfish, trout, salmon and shellfish that can be grown inland or along coasts in ponds and pens. There are no commercial finfish cages in federal waters, which begin 3 miles from most shores but 9 miles from Florida and Texas in the Gulf.
States may allow finfish farming in their own waters, but there are only a few operations. California enacted an aquaculture law last year that environmental and food safety groups want copied at the federal level, but it has yet to spawn an industry there. Industry experts say California's law is too strict and that farming near shore can be more difficult than in open waters that are deeper and less trafficked.
The Bush administration's aquaculture bill would establish a national regime for regional fishery management councils to approve commercial permits in federal waters
"It's a top priority of the administration and has a fair amount of momentum,'' said Dr. Michael Rubino, the aquaculture program manager for NOAA.
The offshore cages usually look like two cones stuck together at the base. They can be 80 feet in diameter or larger and are submerged to avoid wave action.
The Gulf proposal would establish permit procedures in that region. NOAA officials said the proposal is consistent with the federal bill, but it is vague on issues that have stirred opposition from environmental and safety groups across the country. The council is acting in anticipation of eventual federal approval of national rules, but it also is staking out positions on issues such as the species that would be allowed to grow in the cages.
Critics of these proposals want strict standards for the use of antibiotics and chemicals, water quality, the use of fish-based feed for carnivorous finfish, and restrictions on genetically modified species that could escape.
"We want to make sure all the safeguards are in place that we can envision that will protect both livestock and the American people,'' Rep. Lois Capps of California, a Democrat on the House Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee, said at a hearing.
Dr. Kevan Main, director of the Center for Aquaculture Research and Development at Mote Marine Laboratory, stands outside a tank of snook at a facility near Sarasota. Americans get 80 percent of their fish overseas, add to that recent seafood health scares, Congress is becoming more interested in upstarting domestic marine aquaculture in federal waters.
You can't make this stuff up.
... and his name’s “Gill.” Perfect!
"There is no such thing as farmed Chilean Sea Bass. Chilean Sea Bass is a deep sea fish that lives in the freezing waters surrounding Antarctica."
This is a pretty good article. Thanks for posting.
That being said, as always, there’s an elephant in the room attempting to hide behind the lampshade...
1) fish farms will need staging areas and shore access space. Coastal space is sold at a serious premium over most of the country.
2) Energy dynamics. The most efficient converters of protein (conversion of protein to muscle, I mean) can convert up to 1 lb of muscle for 2 lbs of protein digested. This means that the cat-food fisheries (industrial fisheries) that target trash fish will have to grow... placing huge stresses on industrial fisheries.
3) High value fish (predatory fish like salmon, halibut, cod) require much more protein and much higher-quality protein to grow efficiently). This is expensive, especially considering the energy dynamics issue.
4) low-value fish are going to have to be produced in large numbers in order to be profitable. This will produce waste. A moderately-sized mariculture (offshore pen farm)operation already can produce more sewage than a small city.
So... I’m not saying that it’s impossible to do... I’m saying that offshore aquaculture is NOT a pie-in-the-sky answer for cheap seafood. If one looks at salmon farming, again, you will find that foreign companies own virtually all of the production units in the US. We’re just not that interested in these incredibly high-risk ventures.
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