Plans to open US waters in Pacific to fish farming
HONOLULU: As traditional commercial fishing is threatening fish populations worldwide, US officials are working on a plan to expand fish farming into federal waters around the Pacific Ocean. The government sees the move toward aquaculture as a promising solution to overfishing and feeding a hungry planet. But some environmentalists say the industrial-scale farms could do more harm than good to overall fish stocks and ocean health.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is creating a plan to manage commercial fish farms in federal waters, the area of ocean from three to 200 miles offshore, around Hawaii and other Pacific islands. The program is similar to one recently implemented by NOAA in the Gulf of Mexico. The farms in the Gulf and the Pacific would be the only aquaculture operations in US federal waters, though there are smaller operations in state waters close to shore.
Fish farming has been practiced for centuries in Hawaii and around the world. But modern aquaculture, some environmentalists say, carries pollution risks and the potential for non-native farmed fish to escape and enter the natural ecosystem. Most shellfish consumed in America comes from farms, and their methods are widely considered sustainable. However, some farms that grow carnivorous fish such as salmon have raised concerns about sustainability because they use wildcaught fish to feed the captive species.
There are three ways to farm fish: Fully contained land-based systems that pump water in and out with little, if any, environmental impact; nearshore operations incorporating natural and man-made elements; and offshore farms. Former NOAA chief scientist and founder of ocean advocacy group Mission Blue Sylvia Earle said there are more environmentally sustainable and economically viable options than open-ocean aquaculture, which uses huge floating net-pens or submerged cages. “We have to make a choice with aquaculture,” she said. “Is our goal to feed a large number of people? Or is our goal to create or to serve a luxury market?”
Last year, NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography put an economic value of $17 billion a year on the ocean off the west coasts of North and South America.
That includes $4.3 billion from commercial and sport fishing and $12.9 billion for the capture of carbon. Earle said the ocean is worth more, and no dollar figure can be attached to keeping the ocean, and in turn humans, healthy. “We now have recognition of other values of the ocean beyond what we can extract either for food or for products,” she said. — AP