Saving Seafood

Open-ocean fish farm proposed off San Diego coast could be first in federal waters

September 21, 2020 — A prestigious San Diego research institute and a Long Beach social-benefit investment group are teaming to create what could be the first fish farm in federal waters.

The proposed Pacific Ocean AquaFarm would be about four miles offshore of San Diego and would generate 5,000 metric tons of sushi-grade yellowfish each year — enough for 11 million servings of the popular seafood.

A partnership between Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and Pacific6 Enterprise, the project also would create a diversity of economic opportunities and provide a local source for a fish that is now mostly imported.

The institute submitted a federal permit application for the project Sept. 9. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will lead the environmental review of their proposal, which will take about 18 to 24 months. Construction would take about a year, and the first set of fish stocked there would be ready for market 18 to 22 months after that, Kent said.

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times

Pacific Ocean Aquafarms launching offshore yellowtail farm project in California

September 9, 2020 — Long Beach, California, U.S.A.-based Pacific6 has filed a permit application to build an offshore yellowtail farm four miles off the coast of California.

Pacific6 is the same group that purchased the assets of Catalina Sea Ranch, the only permitted aquaculture facility in U.S. federal waters, in May 2020. It has since formed a collaborative group with Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI), a San Diego, California-based nonprofit research institute that works in cooperation with, but is independent of, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Finfish Farming: Envisioning Aquaculture in San Diego

May 31, 2019 — About three miles from shore, a fishing boat tethers to an immense circular ring bobbing on the surface.

The fish pen sways with the current but is moored to the ocean floor nearly three hundred feet below. Inside the carefully structured net, hundreds of Yellowtail flash as they move effortlessly up and down the water column.

The pen casts a shadow and as with pads of broken kelp, wild fish cluster near, claiming shelter in the open sea while others shuttle beneath the pen looking for food.

This is the vision that Don Kent, CEO of Hubbs Seaworld Research Institute (HSWRI) shares with scientists, the Port of San Diego and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). While shellfish farming has been successful locally for years, ocean finfish pens would be a first for the region.

Today Americans import 90% of the seafood they consume. Fish farming could reduce that percentage and harvesting close to home would lower the carbon footprint.

How it would benefit local markets and fishermen is another question.

Eating fish is a healthy, environmentally positive option and aquaculture can make the benefits more accessible and affordable. The scientists at Sustainable Fisheries point out, “The more seafood that is eaten in place of cow, the better, since [industrial] bovine farming is the largest driver of rainforest and biodiversity loss on the planet.”

Read the full story at Edible San Diego

Industry group pushing for more aquaculture in the United States

September 17, 2018 — When it comes to aquaculture in the United States, there’s a sea of opportunity.

Seas of opportunity, really.

Since the United States boasts the second-largest exclusive enterprise zone in the world – meaning it has proprietary marine resource rights over an area totaling roughly 4.4 million square miles in three oceans, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico – aquaculture would seem like an ideal industry for the country. That’s especially true since America’s coastlines are home to a variety of seafood species.

However, as aquaculture has witnessed exponential growth worldwide in recent years, the United States really has not been a significant player in the industry. According to the World Bank, aquaculture produced more than 106 million metric tons (MT) of seafood in 2015. That’s more than double the seafood farms created in 2003 and more than 50 times the yield reported in 1960.

In 1960, the United States ranked fourth in the world, harvesting 104,421 metric tons of the more than two million MT produced worldwide.

In 2015, America was responsible for just 426,000 MT – or just 0.4 percent of the worldwide harvest. That put the it 18th in the world in aquaculture production, trailing such countries as Ecuador, Malaysia, and North Korea.

By contrast, the United States ranks No. 1 in the world in poultry and beef production.

Aquaculture supporters say there’s a major reason for that discrepancy. Don Kent, the president and CEO of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, told SeafoodSource his organization has tried for more than a decade to develop a small fish farm off the Southern California coast, but so far to no avail.

“In a lot of ways, what we’re trying to do in aquaculture is just growing another kind of food. We already know how to grow chickens and pigs. We know how to grow vegetables, and we even know how to grow catfish and trout. We have regulations for handling that,” he said. “What we don’t have is permission to go out into ocean and use the ocean in a sustainable way.”

That’s why a new trade group has emerged to promote aquaculture in the United States. Stronger America Through Seafood – represented by officials from such companies as Cargill, Pacific Seafood, Red Lobster, and High Liner Foods – sees aquaculture as a way to provide Americans increased access to seafood products that are both sustainable and affordable.

Margaret Henderson, the group’s campaign director, told SeafoodSource that the organization came together after industry leaders were encouraged by some of the positions expressed by federal officials regarding increased domestic seafood production. At the same time, Henderson said those same industry leaders looked around and saw no private-sector organization championing those efforts.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Sea turtles introduced to ocean will be tracked to help save species

August 3, 2016 — Sea turtles that hatched at SeaWorld in 2009 were introduced to the ocean on Monday.

The sea turtles were placed into the ocean 10-12 miles off the coast of San Diego. It is anticipated that the sea turtles will migrate south to normal feeding areas along the coast of Mexico and Central America.

Two of the turtles were fitted with satellite transmitters that will allow scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service and Hubbs-Seaworld Research Institute to monitor their movement for at least a month.

Read the full story at CW6 San Diego