August 10, 2020 — This week a federal court ruled that offshore fisheries cannot be permitted in the Gulf of Mexico under existing policy. Opponents of a proposed fish farm off Sarasota’s coast called the decision a victory, but the CEO of the company spearheading the local project says he’s pushing ahead.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that it was illegal for the Department of Commerce to issue regulations that would have permitted large-scale aquaculture operations offshore in U.S. federal waters. The ruling affirmed a 2018 decision, which the Trump Administration had appealed.
“Basically, the case hinged on whether aquaculture could be considered fishing under the law and the court decided that it couldn’t,” said Marianne Cufone, a Tampa and New Orleans based environmental law attorney who argued against fish farming.
“That seems correct,” she said. “Fishing and fish farming are not the same thing–just like duck hunting and duck farming aren’t the same thing. The agency was essentially saying that because they pull the fish from the water out of the net pens, that that equates to harvesting a wild fish and as the court said in its opinion, they wouldn’t bite.”