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U.S. Approves Industrial Offshore Fish Farms

Fish are raised in coastal net pens off the coast of Maine.

Open Ocean



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced this week that for the first time it would start granting permits for fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico.

The move allows up to 20 fish farms to get 10-year permits, which the agency said could harvest as much as 64 million pounds of fish per year.

NOAA administrators touted the new rule as a way to boost the U.S. fishing industry and decrease reliance on imported fish from countries with less rigorous environmental restrictions.

About 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported, and about half of that amount is farmed, NOAA officials said during the announcement. The new rule paves the way for other ocean fish farming operations around the country.

Fishy Business



In industrial offshore fish farms, fish are bred and raised in pens anchored to the seafloor.

Environmental groups warned that the farms would pollute the Gulf with waste from the pens and threaten wild stocks. Escapees, bred to be larger, could dominate natural species or spread disease.

The groups point out that the Gulf and its natural fish stocks are still recovering from natural and man-made disasters such as hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP oil spill in 2010.

In a press release, the Center for Food Safety called the rule "legally questionable," saying the government expanded existing ocean fishing laws that do not apply to industrial-scale aquaculture.

"We need to better manage and protect our native fisheries, not adopt destructive industrial practices that put them at risk," George Kimbrell, senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety said in the release.

Read More:



  • Federal Regulations Issued For Large-Scale Fish Farming In The Ocean (Associated Press)
  • NOAA Opens Federal Waters To Commercial Fish Farms (E&E News)
  • National and Local Groups Oppose Industrial Fish Farming Regulations (Press Release)


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