August 8, 2013 — Officials in Columbia County have a potentially disastrous fish situation on their hands after the apparent closure of Local Ocean, a much-acclaimed fish farm on Route 9 just outside Hudson that had been supplying fresh fish to restaurants and supermarkets such as Price Chopper and Wegmans.
On Thursday morning, Greenport Supervisor John Porreca took the town's code enforcement officer to Local Ocean's indoor farm to try to figure out how to deal with thousands of live fish that may have been abandoned. He said 150 tanks on the property contained the fish, saltwater varieties that need special care.
"We've got concerns because we've got a huge amount of large fish," Porreca said. "The town has concerns that if a few days go by, we could end up having a real disaster."
The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a marine hatchery permit to Local Ocean in 2009 for the facility to raise European seabass and Gilthead seabream.
However, on the Local Ocean website, the company said it also raised flounder and California yellowtail, neither of which is listed on the permit.
Read the full story at the Times Union