Ahab's Journal

Cod in Maine: Fish tales

Can farming save Maine's moribund fishing industry

George Nardi, who owns a year-old cod farm off Sorrento, swaps his trainers for white knee-high rubber boots as we discuss the region’s dwindling employment options. “If this project proves successful, farms like ours may offer the best chance to keep working waterfronts alive,” explains Mr Nardi. The farm has four local employees.

In truth, most groundfishermen—who catch fish like cod, haddock, halibut, hake and pollock—have already disappeared, along with their catch. There are only 70 groundfishing vessels left in Maine, less than half the number in the 1990s, and a far cry from decades past. Few working waterfronts remain. Only 20-25 of Maine’s 3,500 miles of coast remain accessible to commercial fishermen; the rest is privately held.

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Bok Choy: The Solution to Overfishing?

I'd come to Cabbage Hill for a firsthand look at a form of food production that offers a promising alternative to traditional aquaculture. Called aquaponics, it is a variation on hydroponics, with a sustainable twist. In aquaponic systems, fish and plants are raised together in a mutually beneficial environment. The fish produce fertilizer for the plants; the plants cleanse the water for the fish. In its basic form, aquaponics has been practiced for thousands of years, particularly in the Far East, where farmers allow carp and other fish to swim in flooded rice paddies. Ever since the mid-1970's, researchers have been trying to develop a financially viable model for the age-old practice in North America. 

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Salmon farming fury

NORWAY HAS closed 100 of its fjords to salmon farming to protect its wild stock, John Mulcahy, chairman of Save the Swilly (Ireland) told a packed audience following the screening of Farmed Salmon Exposed: The Global Reach of the Norwegian Salmon Farming Industry in Buswells Hotel, Dublin.

The 23-minute documentary lifts the lid on the problems caused by open net cage salmon farms worldwide and reveals the pervasive nature of the issues plaguing salmon aquaculture today. 

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Cod Academy offers an opportunity for displaced fishermen

Five Groups have come together to create a "Cod Academy," where up to 15 fishermen will be trained in all aspects of cod aquaculture. The project, which is designed for displaced commercial fishermen from Hancock and Washington Counties, aims to keep fishermen working on the water. The most promising graduates of the academy will be awarded 50 percent of the seed money needed to start their own aquaculture business.

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Big Isle tuna farm approved by state

Hawaii regulators have approved a Honolulu startup company's plan to build the nation's first tuna farm in waters off the Big Island.

Hawaii Oceanic Technology aims to create an environmentally friendly open ocean farm for bigeye tuna, a favorite source for sushi and sashimi that's overfished in the wild.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted 4-1 on Friday to give Hawaii Oceanic permission to install three large underwater cages for the tuna.

Read "Big Isle tuna farm approved by state"

Organizations Sue Federal Agencies on Offshore Aquaculture Plan

Food & Water Watch, in conjunction with several other organizations, filed suit against the secretary of commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, over a plan to allow offshore industrial fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico. Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organization, sued because the plan and the process by which it was developed and enacted violates existing federal laws. The group, which has opposed the plan throughout its development, asserts, among other issues, that these entities did not take required actions in allowing the plan to be finalized, and do not have the authority to permit ocean aquaculture.

Read "Organizations Sue Federal Agencies on Offshore Aquaculture Plan"

Fish workers to live on sea farms

Workers could soon be living on moored barges under plans to extend salmon farming further off the Scottish coast.

Marine Harvest said its proposed "open sea" system for large, residential fish farms would involve a £40m investment and create up to 40 jobs.

Possible sites include the seas off the Outer Hebrides, Highlands and Argyll and Bute.

They would be the first of their kind in Scotland, and three times the size of existing farms.  

Read "Fish workers to live on sea farms"

  

"Montauk" on Ocean Aquaculture in U.S.

You have probably heard of the failure of the sockeye run on the Frazer River. These run failures, and more all the time, are linked to ocean aquaculture. The U.S. is contemplating ocean aquaculture in a big way. Our scientists don't even know how to manage the traditional fisheries with all their knowledge, much less a completely new one.

Norway is demonstrating the true nature of corporate responsibility in environmental protection, and it should give us reason to slow down our rush to privatize all things marine. And naturally that extends to mining and oil extraction. These big companies who invest just have too much power over our policy makers. The folks who fish wild salmon in British Columbia might be asking , "Who are our policy makers, really?"

Cargill opens Vietnam fish feed mill

Cargill on Monday announced the opening of its Vietnamese fish feed mill in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap.

The mill has an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons of aquaculture feed, bringing the total production capacity of the company's Vietnam operations to 720,000 metric tons a year.

This is the company's sixth facility in Vietnam.

Read "Cargill opens Vietnam fish feed mill"
 

Aquaculture Boom Raises Concerns

"Hunting and gathering has reached its maximum," said Ronald W. Hardy, who directs the University of Idaho's Aquaculture Research Institute and co-authored a study on the subject in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We've got to grow more."

The drive to bring fish "from egg to plate," as Hardy puts it, has the potential to answer a growing demand for seafood worldwide, as well as reduce some of the imports that compose more than 80 percent of the fish and shellfish Americans eat each year. But without technological advances to improve efficiency, it could threaten to wipe out the forage fish that lie at the bottom of the ocean's food chain and potentially contaminate parts of the sea.

And consumers will have to accept that they are eating a different kind of fish than the ones that swim wild: ones that might have eaten unused poultry trimmings, been vaccinated, consumed antibiotics or been selected for certain genetic traits.

Read "Aquaculture Boom Raises Concerns"

As feds push aquaculture, watermen push back

The government is "trying to make big business run the whole thing instead of small independent businessmen," said Larry Simns, longtime president of the Maryland Watermen's Association.

Simns has no problem with aquaculture, defined as the regulation and cultivation of water animals and plants for human use or consumption.

At 72, Simns has spent his working life fishing on the Bay and about half of that time experimenting with aquaculture.

But he makes no secret that aquaculture is not the culture of watermen.

"They're saying they want to help the watermen with aquaculture, but the watermen, they know how to grow oysters," he said. "And if it was going to be profitable they would be doing it. We're about making a living."

Read "As feds push aquaculture, watermen push back"

Sides being drawn on offshore fish farming

BATON ROUGE — President Barack Obama has given the green light to commercial deepwater fish farms and the federal agency charged with regulating ocean waters is already developing a comprehensive policy.

Obama’s decision was announced Thursday after months of emotionally-charged public hearings in coastal communities and immediately drew scorn from members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation and statewide elected officials. 

Read "Sides being drawn on offshore fish farming"

Obama Administration Allows Factory Fish Farms in Gulf of Mexico

Statement of Food & Water Watch Fish Program Director Marianne Cufone

“Today, the very agency tasked with conservation and management of our national fish resources, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), failed to protect fishing communities and the marine environment by allowing an unpopular and potentially harmful ocean fish farming plan for the Gulf of Mexico to pass into effect. NMFS was involved for the entire five years this plan was under discussion, and had since January of 2009 to decide whether ocean fish farming is the right thing to do for the Gulf. Time for indecision ran out today. Rather than taking a stand, the agency looked the other way and chose to stay silent, letting the plan pass by default. The agency’s silence is a choice in itself: to allow development of what are essentially factory farms of the sea—dirty, crowded mass-production facilities that can harm the environment and produce lower-quality fish for consumers. The plan lacks specifics about important issues: unknown types of facilities will be able to grow unspecified types of fish in locations approved by NMFS on a case-by-case basis, from three to 200 miles offshore in the Gulf. The development of these facilities will likely cause major ecological problems, and could undercut prices local fishermen receive for their catch, threatening an already vulnerable job market."

Read "Obama Administration Allows Factory Fish Farms in Gulf of Mexico"

Mississippi catfish industry struggles

Jim Steeby, Extension fisheries specialist at the Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center in Stoneville, Miss., said increasing imports of catfish and whitefish such as tilapia are putting pressure on catfish sales.

“Growers in these countries, especially China, have low-cost labor, favorable currency rates and support from their governments. Their prices are well below those of our domestically produced catfish,” Steeby said. “But their production standards frequently lack integrity.”

The industry is trying to battle imports and establish U.S. farm-raised catfish as a superior product. Recent federal and state labeling laws now require catfish served in restaurants and sold at retail to have country of origin labels.

The industry is also addressing the issue of imports by attempting to move the catfish inspection program from the National Marine Fisheries Service to the U.S. Department of Agriculture

“Changing the inspecting agency to USDA will mean that imports must meet more stringent requirements for safety and quality,” Steeby said. “The problem with many food imports is that some products contain substances such as antibiotics that do not meet U.S. safety and health standards.”

Read "Mississippi catfish industry struggles"

Agency’s non-decision opens Gulf to fish farming

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which regulates fishing in federal waters from Texas to the west coast of Florida, proposed the farm plan and forwarded it to NOAA for approval. NOAA had until Thursday to make a decision.

The proposal, intended to help reduce the nation's reliance on imported seafood, calls for raising millions of pounds of amberjack, red snapper and other species each year in submerged pens three miles to 200 miles off the coast.

But the plan has raised concerns from environmental and fishing interests about how to protect the Gulf's waters and wild fish stock from disease, pollution and other threats that have troubled fish farms in other countries.

That NOAA allowed fish farms in the Gulf without a ruling troubled opponents.

Read "Agency’s non-decision opens Gulf to fish farming"

Open Blue Sea Farms' Panama Acquisition Creates World`s Largest Open Ocean Aquaculture Operation

Open Blue Sea Farms, the leading practitioner of sustainable open ocean
aquaculture, announced today an agreement to acquire the major assets of
Pristine Oceans, forming the world`s largest open ocean aquaculture operation by
year-end.

Since August 1, 2009, Open Blue has managed Pristine. It will consolidate assets
into its own ocean sites. Both firms farm cobia in Panama because of the fish`s
rapid growth rate, nutrition, rare taste and texture. Of the 43,000 stocked
cobia, 10,000 are destined for the gourmet seafood market between December and
April.

Read "Open Blue Sea Farms' Panama Acquisition Creates World`s Largest Open Ocean Aquaculture Operation"

CFA SIGNS ON TO AQUACULTURE LETTER

Commercial Fishermen of America (CFA) has signed onto a letter cautioning U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke against approving the Aquaculture Fishery Management Plan (FMP) adopted by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in January 2009.   The adoption was the first attempt to create a FMP for an aquaculture species.  The letter was backed by a coalition of conservation organizations, consumer organizations, seafood businesses, independent scientists, and other concerned parties.  The signers raised four primary issues.

 

First, the letter claims that the Gulf Council and NOAA do not have authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to develop a permitting system for open ocean aquaculture.  Second, the letter claims that the FMP that was developed is incomplete and illegal because it does not meet the requirements of NEPA and the ESA.  Third, the FMP lacks standards to protect Gulf ecosystems and communities from impacts that may result from the rapid expansion of open ocean aquaculture.  Lastly, the letter states, “a decision by [Locke] to approve the Aquaculture FMP will directly undercut the role of Congress in fully considering federal legislation to develop a coordinated national framework for open ocean aquaculture, with explicit environmental performance standards, to regulate this nascent industry.”

 

A draft of the letter may be found at http://www.mangroveactionproject.org/news/action-alerts/help-appeal-the-open-ocean-aquaculture-fishery-plan-in-the-gulf-of-mexico 

 

(From THE INSTITUTE FOR FISHERIES RESOURCES AND THE PACIFIC COAST FEDERATION OF FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATIONS Newsletter)

Farmed Salmon Decimating Wild Salmon Worldwide

The growing global appetite for cheap farmed salmon is imperiling wild fish populations across the planet, scientists warn.

The first worldwide assessment of the impact of cultivated salmon on wild stocks found that where native populations encounter salmon farms, the numbers of wild fish crash, on average, by more than 50 percent. 

Read "Farmed Salmon Decimating Wild Salmon Worldwide"

Giant Robotic Cages to Roam Seas as Future Fish Farms?

In the future, giant, autonomous fish farms may whir through the open ocean, mimicking the movements of wild schools or even allowing fish to forage "free range" before capturing them once again. Already scientists have constructed working remote control cages. 

Read "Giant Robotic Cages to Roam Seas as Future Fish Farms?"

Lawmakers, Enviros Maneuver in Last-Gasp Bid to Block Deepwater Aquaculture

With a deadline looming for approval of a federal plan that would open the Gulf of Mexico to deepwater fish farming, House lawmakers and conservationists are plotting strategies to block such offshore ventures until Congress creates a system to regulate them.

Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor (Miss.) introduced legislation last Friday that would prevent the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and regional fishery management councils from permitting offshore aquaculture under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act. The measure would invalidate existing permits and put future proposals for offshore fish farming on hold until Congress passes new legislation to oversee deepwater aquaculture.

Read "Lawmakers, Enviros Maneuver in Last-Gasp Bid to Block Deepwater Aquaculture"

T.J. Hooked: Shatner wades into salmon fracas

William Shatner has boldly gone where no actor has gone before: B.C.'s controversial fish farms.

The Canadian actor has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking that salmon farms be removed from crucial wild-salmon migration routes off northern Vancouver Island.

Shatner said salmon farms are having a disastrous impact on "one of Earth's most precious assets, the wild salmon and steelhead of B.C." in the letter, which was also sent to Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.

Read "T.J. Hooked: Shatner wades into salmon fracas"

“Aquaculture is Not Fishing”: Congressional Bill Reasserts Gulf Council Fish Farming Plan Illegal

“Food & Water Watch commends Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS) and co-sponsors for introducing a bill today to stop regulations that would for the first time allow development of ocean fish farms in U.S. federal waters. Ocean fish farms, or offshore aquaculture, is the mass production of fish in huge net pens or cages between about three and 200 miles from shore.

“The ‘Offshore Aquaculture Is Not Fishing Act of 2009’ asserts that under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act – the primary law that regulates fisheries nationwide – the Secretary of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the regional fishery management councils do not have authority to permit or regulate the commercial ocean fish farming industry. This bill, when passed, will essentially nullify the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s controversial plan to allow open ocean aquaculture in Gulf waters.  The Gulf plan, currently being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Commerce for final approval, has a long list of critics, including many members of Congress, recreational and commercial fishermen, consumer and conservation groups and other concerned individuals.

Read "“Aquaculture is Not Fishing”: Congressional Bill Reasserts Gulf Council Fish Farming Plan Illegal"

Food Safety Organizations, U.S. Congressman Voice Support for USDA Inspections for Catfish

In letters sent last week to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, three of the nation’s largest food safety watchdog groups and a U.S. Congressman voiced their support for USDA inspections for domestic and imported catfish species, as mandated by the 2008 Farm Bill. 

In a separate letter to Sec. Vilsack from Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell, the lawmaker recalls a trip to tour Vietnamese seafood processing facilities in December 2008, where he noted the aquaculture conditions were less than favorable and the fish were unfit for American consumption: 

“During my most recent trip to the Mekong Delta, I saw the putrid conditions in which these fish are raised. I saw raw sewage and drainage pipes leading directly into the Mekong Delta upstream from where the fish farms are located.

“The FDA only voluntarily inspects less than one percent of total food imports and less than two percent of seafood from foreign plants. This is frightening and unacceptable.” 

Read "Food Safety Organizations, U.S. Congressman Voice Support for USDA Inspections for Catfish"

 

Food & Water Watch Partners with Washington, DC Chefs to Oppose Controversial Gulf Aquaculture Plan and Rally to Support Sustainable Seafood

Washington, D.C. – Today, renowned Washington D.C.-area chefs emerged from their kitchens to partner with Food & Water Watch and stir up a diverse crowd of activists, foodies and policy experts to rally against the controversial Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council ocean fish farming plan currently being considered by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Donning chef aprons and toques outside the department’s building, the group spoke in opposition to the plan that could threaten consumer health, the environment and coastal communities if approved at the federal level. Both chefs and Food & Water Watch experts advocated for a program for better wild fisheries management and more sustainable aquaculture to meet our nation’s seafood needs.

Read "Food & Water Watch Partners with Washington, DC Chefs to Oppose Controversial Gulf Aquaculture Plan and Rally to Support Sustainable Seafood"

 

Chile’s Antibiotics Use on Salmon Farms Dwarfs That of a Top Rival’s

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay - Chile used almost 350 times more antibiotics in its farmed salmon in 2008 than Norway, its chief competitor and the largest salmon producer in the world, according to official data from both countries.

Read "Chile’s Antibiotics Use on Salmon Farms Dwarfs That of a Top Rival’s"

Plans advance for open-ocean farm in waters off the Big Isle

A dozen spherical cages, each with a diameter half the length of a football field, would be submerged in state waters off the Big Island if plans are realized to establish the largest open-ocean fish farm in Hawaii.

The Honolulu company proposing to raise sashimi-grade ahi published a final environmental impact statement with the state last week, clearing a major regulatory hurdle in the effort to start operations projected to generate more than $100 million in annual sales.

The venture, if realized, would be the third aquaculture farm in Hawaii raising fish from eggs and growing them to market size in underwater ocean cages.

It also would be the biggest in terms of production and space occupied - 12 million pounds of fish a year raised below 247 acres of sea surface 2.6 miles off Kawaihae, north of the resorts in West Hawaii. 

Read "Plans advance for open-ocean farm in waters off the Big Isle"

OK'd House bill halves shellfish bottom leases

RALEIGH — Those who farm coastal waters for shellfish could soon see their leases cut in half.

The House on Wednesday approved 115-0 a bill that reduces the term of a shellfish bottom lease from 10 years to five years. The bill, which has previously passed the Senate, has been returned to the Senate for concurrence.

Read "OK'd House bill halves shellfish bottom leases"

Va. aquaculture industry gets stimulus boost

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia's aquaculture industry is in line for some federal stimulus dollars.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said the state has received $251,232 in grants intended to assist producers for losses associated with high feed costs last year.

Read "Va. aquaculture industry gets stimulus boost"

Aquaculture producers eligible for grant monies to recoup losses sustained in 2008

"RALEIGH — North Carolina aquaculture producers are eligible to receive grant money to offset losses sustained in 2008 due to high feed costs as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Producers must have raised an aquaculture species in a controlled environment in 2008 and continue to be in operation. In addition, to be eligible for a grant, total feed costs in 2008 must have represented at least 25 percent of the total cost of operation, and the 2008 costs must represent an increase of at least 25 percent above the average of the previous five years."

Read "Aquaculture producers eligible for grant monies to recoup losses sustained in 2008"

Food & Water Watch Exposes Kona Blue’s Claims of Sustainability

"Washington, D.C. – Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group, today released a paper that rebutts the recent claims by Kona Blue Water Farms that the fish it raises are more sustainable than wild fish. The consumer group’s paper enumerates the problems with the Hawaii-based aquaculture operation’s methods and debunks the claims that its Kona Kampachi fish are sixty times as “efficient” as wild fish."

Read "Food & Water Watch Exposes Kona Blue’s Claims of Sustainability"

A new way to farm fish and feed the world

Scientists at Columbus Center hope to show viability of 'greener' aquaculture 

"Zohar and his team of scientists and technicians have been laboring for years to perfect techniques for captive breeding and rearing of fish as quickly and cleanly as possible. For marine species like branzini, otherwise known as European seabass, they make artificial sea water, then recycle nearly all of it, filtering out waste and even capturing methane to offset some of the energy used in raising the fish in captivity.

With public interest growing in sustainable seafood, they hope to demonstrate the commercial viability of their fully contained, land-based, indoor fish farm.

"This is the next wave of seafood development," Zohar predicts. "We know we are running out of fish. We know we cannot continue to hunt and gather." "

Read "A new way to farm fish and feed the world"

 
 

Norway fish farms thrive under ecologists' watchful eye

"OEYGARDEN, Norway (AFP) — Tucked away in the corner of an enchanting fjord, 600,000 baby trout frolick in underwater cages as they wait their turn to end up on dinner plates: fish farming is booming in Norway, under the watchful eye of environmentalists.

In Oeygarden near the western Norwegian town of Bergen, the Blom family's fish farm consists of a building constructed on the water and three submerged basins where the fish are raised.

It is just one of the 800 fish farms dotting the coastline in the Scandinavian country, where three times more salmon and trout are produced than meat.

But while fish farming helps ease the pressure that industrial fishing is putting on the planet's fish stocks, it is not without its own slew of problems.

Farmed fish that escape, rampant illnesses and a debate over feed have tarnished the reputation of a sector whose exports totalled 2.5 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars) in Norway last year."Read "Norway fish farms thrive under ecologists' watchful eye"

Alaska has ready supply of feed for farmed fish

KODIAK -- The United States is about to spend $50 million in stimulus money on fish food to help fish farmers hit by a 50 percent increase in feed prices last year. According to The Associated Press, the money could "provide algae to nourish clam and oyster larvae along the Pacific coast, fill the bellies of tilapia in Arizona and feed catfish, trout and game fish in the Mi dwest and South."

Read "Alaska has ready supply of feed for farmed fish"

5 fish farm sites must be removed to protect wild salmon says GSA

"Five open net-cage salmon farms must be permanently removed from a salmon migration route in the northern Georgia Strait in order to protect thousands of juvenile salmon from sea lice and other potentially fatal diseases, the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform said Tuesday."

Read "5 fish farm sites must be removed to protect wild salmon says GSA"

Lawmakers ask Commerce Department to reject Gulf fish farms

"Citing environmental concerns and regulatory issues, Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., and 36 other U.S. lawmakers have asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to reject a plan to allow fish farms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawmakers sent a letter Friday to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in opposition to a Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council plan. The council — which includes representatives from Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Alabama — approved the plan in January in Bay St. Louis following months of heated debate and objection from charter boat fishermen and environmental groups, among others."

Read "Lawmakers ask Commerce Department to reject Gulf fish farms"

Study: Farmed fish may transmit mad cow

"A new study claims that farmed fish may be able to contract mad cow disease if fed cow byproducts. The study was led by University of Louisville neurologist Robert Friedland, M.D., and published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The risk of transmitting mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), from fish to humans is “low,” acknowledged the researchers.

“We have not proven that it’s possible for fish to transmit the disease to humans,” said Friedland. “Still, we believe that out of reasonable caution for public health, the practice of feeding rendered cows to fish should be prohibited. Fish do very well in the seas without eating cows.” "

Read "Study: Farmed fish may transmit mad cow"

Mississippi catfish farmers say Vietnam is sinking their business

"Reporting from Belzoni, Miss., and Washington -- In Vietnam there's a kind of fish that's white-fleshed and whiskered and otherwise pretty darn catfish-like. But in the eyes of the U.S. government, the creatures aren't catfish.

Now fish farmers in the American South fear this government classification will allow the Vietnamese fish to slither around inspection regulations that will soon apply to American catfish."

Read "Mississippi catfish farmers say Vietnam is sinking their business"
 

Oysters in deep trouble

"WILLAPA BAY, Wash. The collapse began rather unspectacularly.

In 2005, when most of the millions of Pacific oysters in this tree-lined estuary failed to reproduce, Washington's shellfish growers largely shrugged it off.

In a region that provides one-sixth of the nation's oysters - the epicenter of the West Coast's $111 million oyster industry - everyone knows nature can be fickle.

But then the failure was repeated in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It spread to an Oregon hatchery that supplies baby oysters to shellfish nurseries from Puget Sound to Los Angeles. Eighty percent of that hatchery's oyster larvae died, too."

Read "Oysters in deep trouble"

Stimulus has $50M for fish food, designed to help aquaculture industry cope with feed spike

"OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. plans to spend $50 million on fish food to help an aquaculture industry reeling from feed prices that nearly doubled last year.

The details are still being sorted out, but state agriculture departments are to distribute the money through grants based on the amount of feed used in 2007."

Read "Stimulus has $50M for fish food, designed to help aquaculture industry cope with feed spike"

 
 

Gulf of Mexico - NOAA Opens 60-Day Public Comment Period for Aquaculture Plan

On June 4, 2009, NOAA opened a 60-day public comment period for the Fishery Management Plan for Regulating Offshore Marine Aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico. This plan is available for public review and comment through August 3, 2009. Public comments will be accepted online and by mail. Specific instructions on submitting comments are available in the Federal Register and in the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office Fishery Bulletin issued on June 4.

For more information about the plan, contact the NOAA Aquaculture Program Southeast Regional Coordinator Jess.Beck@noaa.gov.

Capitol Hill Panel Promotes Ocean Privatization

Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter

“Yesterday, one of the panels for Capitol Hill Oceans Week, Feeding a Nation: The Role of Fishing and Aquaculture in Today’s Economy, touted parceling out our oceans to a few big businesses as the best way to feed U.S. consumers and alleviate pressure on over-stressed wild fish.  These ideas at the most basic level are ocean privatization – giving over what should be a public resource, our oceans, to private entities to use for their own economic gains with no benefit to the general public. Sadly, these ideas seemingly are also openly backed and supported by U.S. government agencies charged with conservation and management of natural ocean resources, as they participated in the program.

“The panel was designed to convince members of Congress and others that catch shares of fish, known in policy circles as individual fishing quotas (IFQs), and ocean fish farming benefit the economy and the environment. While major issues like job loss and pollution were admitted as potential issues with these programs, they were immediately dismissed as unimportant."

Read "Capitol Hill Panel Promotes Ocean Privatization"

A national vision is needed before our nation’s oceans are opened to large-scale ocean fish farming

"Americans are eating more and more seafood. It’s not surprising: Seafood tastes great and is generally heart-healthy. But after decades of mismanagement of our wild-capture fisheries, much of what we eat is no longer caught in U.S. waters. The bulk is imported from overseas, and much of that is farmed - a process called aquaculture. Open-ocean aquaculture is fish farming in large cages well offshore. While some forms of aquaculture, such as farming shellfish, are environmentally low risk, others, such as salmon farming, have a proven track record of environmental problems. It’s shocking to know that despite the growing demand for farmed fish, there are no national standards to address the numerous risks."

Read "A national vision is needed before our nation’s oceans are opened to large-scale ocean fish farming"

Chile faces 67% drop in farmed salmon output

"At the third annual RS Platou Markets Seafood Conference in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday, Henrik Heiberg, VP of finance and treasury for Marine Harvest, predicted global farmed salmon production to fall 7 to 12 percent this year, due to an unprecedented drop in Chile's output.

In his presentation, Heiberg said global farmed salmon production is expected to range from 1.17 million to 1.24 million metric tons this year.

Infectious salmon anemia (ISA) is taking a toll on Chile's farmed salmon production, which is forecasted to plummet by as much as 67 percent, to 120,000 metric tons, in 2009." 

Read "Chile faces 67% drop in farmed salmon output"

Hawaii company wants to farm tuna offshore to provide sushi delicacy without overfishing

"Hawaii Oceanic aims to build a 12-pen farm just under 3 miles off the west coast of the Big Island in two years. The farm would produce 6,000 tons of bigeye a year when fully operational, serving Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, Japan and other parts of Asia. In 2007, fishermen caught 224,921 tons of wild bigeye in the Pacific.

The dozen pens — each with a diameter of about 56 yards or more than half a football field — would be spread out over 250 acres of ocean."  

Read "Hawaii company wants to farm tuna offshore to provide sushi delicacy without overfishing"
 

New Zealand fishermen oppose Vietnamese imports

"The New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen on Friday attacked a government move to allow imports of catfish from Vietman, saying it could dominate the fish and chips trade and ruin the local industry.

'Vietnamese catfish (pangasius) and Tilapia are farmed in the Mekong River, which is reported to have untreated sewage from up to 60 million people discharged into it,' said federation Chairman Doug Saunders-Loder.

He said that New Zealand had legalized imports of these fish species despite questions from respected environmental agencies about water pollution and chemicals including malachite green, a known carcinogen."

Read "New Zealand fishermen oppose Vietnamese imports"

OC industries, aquaculture laws in conflict

"OCEAN CITY -- The Town Council will send a message to state environmental officials that aquaculture isn't welcome in Ocean City because it would get in the way of recreational boaters."

Read "OC industries, aquaculture laws in conflict"

 

 

Federal Dollars Prematurely Slated for Offshore Fish Farming

“President Obama’s FY 2010 budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) contains a glaring flaw that would prematurely allocate federal dollars to help fund controversial and unpopular fish farming plans that have not yet been federally authorized.The NOAA budget narrative requests a $2 million dollar increase for marine aquaculture, for a total of about $6.1 million for such programs.  As there is no comprehensive federal program that allows marine aquaculture in U.S. waters, requesting increased funds to help review and issue permits is completely inappropriate and an irresponsible use of precious dollars."

Read "Federal Dollars Prematurely Slated for Offshore Fish Farming"

 

Scientists side with Drakes Bay oyster farmer

"Supporters of a Marin County oyster farmer claimed victory Tuesday after a panel of scientists concluded that National Park Service officials made errors, selectively presented information and misrepresented facts in a series of reports about his Drakes Bay shellfish operation.

The findings mark the second time in a year that the Park Service has been put under a spotlight for essentially fudging data in its attempts to show that the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. harmed the environment.

While the report did not specifically accuse anyone of misconduct, it raised serious questions about governmental misuse of scientific data."

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Whole Foods rolls out Carolina Classics Catfish

"Whole Foods Market on Monday announced Carolina Classics Catfish of Ayden, N.C., is now the retailer's exclusive source for farmed channel catfish.
 
Carolina Classics is required to meet Whole Foods' new farmed seafood standards. The catfish must be free of antibiotics, synthetic algaecides and the feed must be free of land-animal byproducts."

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The next seafood frontier: The ocean

"At 18, O'Hanlon founded Snapperfarm, farming 10-pound fish that grew naturally in a third of the time it took to breed a similar-size salmon. Over six years, O'Hanlon grew sales to $500,000 a year.

Now the 29-year-old entrepreneur is trying the same model on a global scale. Starting this June, his latest company, Open Blue Sea Company, aims to fly 30,000 live baby cobia every month from Miami to Panama City in the cargo hold of a Boeing 757. After being placed in tanks near the famous canal, the fish will travel by boat to their new home, a floating wire mesh globe as tall as a six-story building that will be moored to the Atlantic Ocean floor, 220 feet below."

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