Louis Rossignol
12-02-2007, 12:19 PM
I just recieved this,
Hi Louis:
I got your e-mail from Chris Hartwell. He suggested I get with you to let you know about something happening with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council - he thought you might want to get folks involved:
Over the course of recent months, the Gulf Council has been rushing through a plan to allow industrial fish farming in our Gulf, very under the public radar, and it is due to be finalized in January. There is one set of public hearings scheduled - just one in each state - for those of us that will be most affected to learn more and comment. The New Orleans meeting is Tuesday December 11th from 6-9pm at the Airport Hilton, 901 Airline Drive, Kenner, Louisiana - (for directions, call: 504-469-5000). This is likely our last chance to weigh in on this. The plan does not include a lot of specifics and gives National Marine Fisheries Service the power to make decisions. Specifically, some things our diving/rec fishing folks are worried about:
No entry on or around facilities - The plan has an option to prevent any fishing near or around the farms, and to designate a buffer zone around the entire operation, so both the space the farm takes up and a substantial area around it could be lost for fishing and other recreation.
The plan does not identify what areas will be used for aquaculture and which won’t - This means that facilities could be located on or nearby popular fishing or diving grounds and the plan does allow for facilities to develop on or near oil rigs.
Farms could ruin the fishing experience - The plan is to allow commercial scale aquaculture. This means the use of many huge cages (a popular style is about 80ft x 100 ft per cage), close together, packed with fish. Cages are not always totally under water, and the plan does not require them to be. Aquaculture operations are not pretty, often do not smell good and attract predators, like sharks, looking for an easy meal. All of these things can substantially impair fishing - picture a trip where you see rows of cages, deal with odors from fish waste and feed and regularly lose your catch to hungry sharks.
Farms could infect wild fish - Farmed fish are held in captivity, usually in much higher numbers than would be normal in the wild. Cramped quarters, concentrated fish wastes, stress and other factors are often breeding grounds for diseases. In Norway, there have been numerous problems with farmed salmon spreading diseases to wild salmon. Something similar is now happening in the Pacific Northwest. Because the Gulf farm facilities will allow free flow of water in and out of the ocean, parasites and other diseases will be able to escape the farm and infect wild fish.
Farms could pollute the Gulf – Concentrated amounts of fish food, fish waste and any chemicals or antibiotics that may be used to treat the fish to kill parasites and diseases or to keep cages free of algae and barnacles will flow straight into ocean waters through the open cages. Environmental problems have been reported at one of the nation’s four experimental fish farms. A farm affiliated with the University of Hawaii “grossly polluted” the seafloor and “severely depressed” sea life. Additionally, the cages themselves could become marine debris in the event they are damaged or pulled free by violent weather.
Attached are some pictures of what ocean fish farming looks like.
Let me know if you are interested in more information or attending the public meeting!
Marianne Cufone
Phone: 813.785.8386
E-mail: mcufone@environmentmatters.net
Hi Louis:
I got your e-mail from Chris Hartwell. He suggested I get with you to let you know about something happening with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council - he thought you might want to get folks involved:
Over the course of recent months, the Gulf Council has been rushing through a plan to allow industrial fish farming in our Gulf, very under the public radar, and it is due to be finalized in January. There is one set of public hearings scheduled - just one in each state - for those of us that will be most affected to learn more and comment. The New Orleans meeting is Tuesday December 11th from 6-9pm at the Airport Hilton, 901 Airline Drive, Kenner, Louisiana - (for directions, call: 504-469-5000). This is likely our last chance to weigh in on this. The plan does not include a lot of specifics and gives National Marine Fisheries Service the power to make decisions. Specifically, some things our diving/rec fishing folks are worried about:
No entry on or around facilities - The plan has an option to prevent any fishing near or around the farms, and to designate a buffer zone around the entire operation, so both the space the farm takes up and a substantial area around it could be lost for fishing and other recreation.
The plan does not identify what areas will be used for aquaculture and which won’t - This means that facilities could be located on or nearby popular fishing or diving grounds and the plan does allow for facilities to develop on or near oil rigs.
Farms could ruin the fishing experience - The plan is to allow commercial scale aquaculture. This means the use of many huge cages (a popular style is about 80ft x 100 ft per cage), close together, packed with fish. Cages are not always totally under water, and the plan does not require them to be. Aquaculture operations are not pretty, often do not smell good and attract predators, like sharks, looking for an easy meal. All of these things can substantially impair fishing - picture a trip where you see rows of cages, deal with odors from fish waste and feed and regularly lose your catch to hungry sharks.
Farms could infect wild fish - Farmed fish are held in captivity, usually in much higher numbers than would be normal in the wild. Cramped quarters, concentrated fish wastes, stress and other factors are often breeding grounds for diseases. In Norway, there have been numerous problems with farmed salmon spreading diseases to wild salmon. Something similar is now happening in the Pacific Northwest. Because the Gulf farm facilities will allow free flow of water in and out of the ocean, parasites and other diseases will be able to escape the farm and infect wild fish.
Farms could pollute the Gulf – Concentrated amounts of fish food, fish waste and any chemicals or antibiotics that may be used to treat the fish to kill parasites and diseases or to keep cages free of algae and barnacles will flow straight into ocean waters through the open cages. Environmental problems have been reported at one of the nation’s four experimental fish farms. A farm affiliated with the University of Hawaii “grossly polluted” the seafloor and “severely depressed” sea life. Additionally, the cages themselves could become marine debris in the event they are damaged or pulled free by violent weather.
Attached are some pictures of what ocean fish farming looks like.
Let me know if you are interested in more information or attending the public meeting!
Marianne Cufone
Phone: 813.785.8386
E-mail: mcufone@environmentmatters.net