Saving Seafood

Appeals court: NOAA can’t make rules for offshore fish farms

August 4, 2020 — A federal appeals court in New Orleans has upheld a decision that throws out rules regulating fish farms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The law granting authority over fisheries to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration does not also let the agency set rules for offshore fish farms, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its 2-1 decision on Monday.

The farms use enormous open-topped nets or submersible pens to raise huge numbers of fish, including tuna, salmon, seabass and cobia, out in open water.

The government says fish farming, including that on the open sea, is vital to seafood production and can both provide jobs and protect species and habitats. Opponents say huge numbers of fish confined in nets out in the ocean could hurt ocean health and native fish stocks, and the farms would drive down prices and devastate commercial fishing communities.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post

Is offshore fish farming in Florida’s future? A test project in the Gulf could supply answer

July 23, 2020 — A boat traveling southwest from Sarasota into the Gulf of Mexico for a little over two hours will reach a spot where the ocean is 130 feet deep and the sandy sea floor holds no corals, seagrass or shipwrecks.

For almost three years it’s been the proposed site for anchoring a submerged mesh cage — one about the size of 20 backyard swimming pools — to raise a fast-growing native fish called the almaco jack. A company’s small pilot project aims to show how offshore fish farming can be done responsibly with minimal environmental impacts to produce sustainable seafood. Opponents are deeply concerned that, if permitted, the project would lead to larger fish farms that spark algae blooms and compete with regional fishers.

A Trump administration executive order introduced in May could now accelerate the launch of offshore fish farms as part of its mission to boost domestic seafood production. The order calls for investigating two U.S. locations to start up commercial aquaculture, the farming of aquatic animals and plants. Florida representatives, including U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Nicole Fried, have asked for Florida’s federal waters, defined as three to 200 nautical miles from shore, to be one of those locations.

Fish farm proponents point to a growing population with growing demands for seafood that can’t be met by wild-caught fish. Over 80% of seafood eaten in the U.S. is imported, though some of that includes U.S. seafood processed elsewhere then imported back to the U.S.

“We’re essentially exporting our ecological footprint,” said Neil Sims, CEO of Ocean Era, the company applying to raise captive fish in the Gulf. “We need to figure out how to grow these fish ourselves in U.S. waters where we can have control over the environmental standards and the food safety standards.”

Read the full story at The Miami Herald

Offshore aquaculture firm, formerly known as Kampachi Farms, rebrands as Ocean Era

February 10, 2020 — The Kona, Hawaii, U.S.A.-based offshore aquaculture company formerly known as Kampachi Farms, LLC, is rebranding as Ocean Era, LLC, the firm announced on 10 February.

The move is intended to position the company to better address both opportunities and challenges facing modern aquaculturists and the planet at large, according to Neil Anthony Sims, the firm’s co-founder and CEO.

Read the full story at Seafood Source