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SCIENCEFriday 27 November 2015
Projects stall after feds allow fish farming in open ocean
JULIE WATSON cess was rigorous but Supporters say the general ing to improve coordina- heavy metals or mercury
Associated Press streamlined. public is unaware aqua- tion between agencies and bought cellular-load-
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Some Federal officials say the red culture can be done sus- and identify gaps in scien- ed buoys to collect real-
90 percent of seafood tape is partly because it’s tainably, and help relieve tific data, so they are ad- time data, including on
consumed by Americans a new frontier. There is no the overfishing of oceans. dressed and don’t cause water salinity and temper-
is imported — a fact that regulatory framework for “People are scared,” said delays, and federal grants ature.
the Obama administra- federal waters. They say Hunter Lenihan, a Univer- for research have been in- He will monitor how much
tion vowed to start turning the process needs to be sity of California, Santa creasing. phytoplankton the shellfish
around by expanding fish streamlined while main- Barbara marine ecologist. “We need to make the consume to ensure things
and shellfish farms into fed- are not thrown off balance.
eral waters. In this Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, photo, California yellowtail swim in a tank as project manager He hopes his pioneering ef-
Yet nearly two years since forts will pave the way for
the first permit was issued, Federico Rotman, left, and technician Patrick Appel, of the Hubbs SeaWorld Institute, look on at a multi-billion aquaculture
the United States still has no industry someday.
offshore farms. their facility in San Diego. Associated Press “We don’t think there will
The pioneers of offshore be any impact, but we
aquaculture say their taining environmental “You look at China in cer- permitting process be have to prove that,” Cru-
plans have stalled or been tain bays, it looks awful. more efficient as opposed ver said.
abandoned because of standards. They’ve destroyed the sea- to now where it’s like who’s Four federal agencies ap-
the long and expensive scape with pollution. That’s on first,” said Michael Ru- proved his farm. Cruver
federal permitting process Nearly half of the imported a lot of people’s version bino, director of NOAA’s said he underestimated
that requires extensive en- of what aquaculture looks aquaculture office. the costs and now needs
vironmental monitoring seafood Americans eat like.” Most of the permits issued $3 million to make a prof-
and data collection. Technology can resolve so far are for raising shell- itable farm. “It’s been a
The applicant given the first comes from foreign farms, many of the issues, but fed- fish, which are filter feeders really tough, tough time,
permit for federal waters in eral funds and the political that can clean waterways. raising money for a sustain-
2014 has spent $1 million according to the National will are lacking so industry Entrepreneur Phil Cruver able-type investment,” he
and not seeded any mus- and scientists can work to- hoped to be seeding mus- said.
sels off Southern California. Oceanic and Atmospheric gether to make it sustain- sels months after snatch- Salem State University
Another pioneer in Hawaii able, he said. ing the first federal permit professor Mark Fregeau
said there is too much red Administration. “There is not a govern- in January 2014 for Cata- agreed.
tape and plans to start his ment-funded program of lina Sea Ranch’s 100-acre The university received a
fish farm off Mexico and A draft of NOAA’s five-year any decent size in which farm, 6 miles from Hunting- permit for a pilot project
export to the U.S. you can propose to do ex- ton Beach. in federal waters on the
Meanwhile, investors are strategic plan calls for ma- periments and develop in- Now he’s keeping his fin- feasibility of a commercial
leery to jump on board novation in offshore aqua- gers crossed for 2016 after operation off Massachu-
with no offshore farms in rine aquaculture produc- culture to address the spending more than $1 setts, but it’s stalled until
the water. main questions we have,” million on consultants, law- they find $100,000 to cover
“Those jobs could have tion to jump 50 percent Lenihan said. “We need di- yers, permits, and prepara- costs, including bi-monthly
been in the U.S., the invest- rection from the top to say tions. inspections of its mussel
ment could have been by 2020, and expanding this is a priority.” Cruver had the area’s beds, which will be 8 miles
in the U.S., but there was Federal officials are work- ocean floor tested for offshore. Another feder-
no way I could talk to my into federal waters is key. al permit holder found it
board of investors when more profitable to harvest
there are no clear regula- Crowded coastlines with wild mussels in Massachu-
tions set up and the moni- setts state waters for now,
toring burden is so ridicu- recreational boats and said Scott Lindell, at the
lous,” said Neil Sims, CEO of Marine Biological Labora-
Kampachi Farms. shipping routes are limiting tory, a nonprofit institution
“I’m now practicing my that assisted the applicant.
Spanish,” said Sims, who re- growth in state waters. Hubbs-SeaWorld Research
ceived his permit for pens Institute in San Diego ap-
off Hawaii. He had hoped Critics fear it will open the plied last October for mul-
to develop a commercial tiple permits to start an
operation to raise sashimi- doors to massive fish farms offshore commercial fish
grade Kampachi fish but farm to someday harvest
plans instead to put his like those in other countries 5,000 metric tons of yellow-
farm off Mexico’s Baja Cal- tail jack annually, with the
ifornia peninsula next year. that have polluted waters potential for more than $30
He said the Mexican pro- million in profits.q
from the accumulation of
feces and resulted in es-
capes of farm-raised fish
that can affect wild stocks.
