Why NOAA seeks to open federal waters off Hawaii to fish farming
The federal government hopes to boost US seafood production with new fish farms.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which regulates US fisheries, aquaculture in federal waters off the coast of Hawaii. Aquaculture 鈥� raising fish in captivity, rather than catching them in the wild 鈥� already takes place in ponds on the Hawaiian islands and in state waters off the coast. By expanding the practice to a nearly 200-mile-wide belt of federal waters surrounding the islands, NOAA aims to create new opportunities for seafood firms.
NOAA鈥檚 move comes amid a global push to expand aquaculture. Fish farms produce聽half of all fish consumed by humans, as 海角大神 reported in 2015, with rapid growth projected in coming decades. Some environmentalists hope that this trend can preserve marine ecosystems while providing more food for a growing human population. But others point out that aquaculture has drawbacks, such as use of antibiotics in open waters, and escapes of non-native fish into surrounding ecosystems.
These risks have already sparked opposition to aquaculture in the United States, and could threaten NOAA鈥檚 efforts in Hawaii.
"In the Western Pacific, it鈥檚 in the very early days at this point," Michael Rubino, the aquaculture program director for NOAA fisheries, told the Monitor in a phone interview, adding that Thursday鈥檚 announcement marks the start of a long process.
No permit structure currently exists for aquaculture near Hawaii. One will be developed with help from NOAA鈥檚 Western Pacific Council, one of eight that represent states, fishermen, and other stakeholders. After the Western Pacific Council receives public input and develops a plan for Hawaiian aquaculture, NOAA will use that plan to develop a final set of regulations.
Hawaiian fish farms will serve NOAA鈥檚 larger goal of increasing US seafood production. On its website, that the US currently imports more than 90 percent of its seafood. "Aquaculture presents a tremendous opportunity not only to meet US demand, but also to increase opportunities for the seafood industry and job creation," Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA administrator, says in a statement.
Not all fishing firms and conservationists agree. In January 2016, NOAA introduced aquaculture regulations for the聽Gulf of Mexico, the first for any US fishery. The following month, a coalition of fishing and environmental groups, led by the Center for Food Safety, that the rules failed to protect them against "a plethora of well-known adverse environmental and intertwined socioeconomic consequences."
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit focused on , arguing that "many industrial aquaculture facilities use large doses of pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, pesticides, fungicides, and algaecides, attempting to protect their investment from diseases, parasites, and various other detrimental organisms." 聽
A ruling on the Gulf of Mexico lawsuit is still pending, but some of these environmental consequences have already been felt elsewhere. Last May, pollution from salmon farms off the coast of Chile " that devastated the area鈥檚 wild fisheries.
US regulations may offer more protection. The National Aquaculture Association . "Because of federal and state government oversight," it explains in a brochure to seafood marketers, "you can meet your customers鈥� expectations that the US farm-raised fish you serve is sustainable, environmentally friendly, high quality, and wholesome."
NOAA's Rubino agrees, saying that "We continue to push the envelope on sustainability." In one sign of sustainable aquaculture outside the US, Norway from the World Health Organization for eliminating the dispersal of antibiotics 聽from its salmon farms.
Despite these results, NOAA鈥檚 experience in the Gulf of Mexico shows that many US coastal residents take a dim view of aquaculture. This could bode ill for Hawaii. 聽"At the end of the day, the rule that鈥檚 likely to come out of the Western Pacific will likely be quite similar to the one in the Gulf," Dr. Rubino predicts.
But some key factors separate Hawaii from the Gulf, which hosted no deep-water aquaculture before the rule. The Aloha State鈥檚 fishermen have with two open-ocean fish farms, growing moi and yellowtail in state waters, for more than a decade.
The longline fishermen who catch tuna may also have reason to accept aquaculture. Tuna , according to the state鈥檚 Department of Land and Water resources. Syd Kraul, who farms fish in ponds on Hawaii, recently told Hawaii business that 鈥淩eplacing or supplementing wild catch ,鈥� but ensuring 鈥渢he survival of [tuna] larvae鈥� was difficult. 聽
One method could include a place for commercial fishers. Rubino described a "hybrid ... where small [young] tuna are caught and fattened in a net pen." NOAA recognized the need for solutions like these as far back as 2008. A report issued that year acknowledged that "a major challenge for fishermen is to figure out how to use aquaculture as a complement to their wild catch and/or income."
Even if Hawaii presents friendlier waters for aquaculture, its success will likely depend on good communication between NOAA officials and local fishermen. These two groups failed to connect in the Gulf of Mexico. 聽In , the Center for Food Safety argued that the rulemaking Gulf Council鈥檚 public meetings were "poorly publicized in the local communities" and scheduled at inconvenient times," resulting in "little public input."
For their part, local fishermen would need to accept aquaculture in modern seafood production. The center鈥檚 suit also alleged that NOAA鈥檚 aquaculture regulations overstepped its mandate to manage US fisheries. But this distinction may soon blur. As the world鈥檚 demand for seafood grows, fish-producing regions will likely come to rely on a combination of aquaculture and fishing, and need appropriate rules.
"We鈥檝e done a really good job in the US of stopping overfishing and putting all of our stocks under management plans," Rubino says. "Even if we can get a little more seafood [through commercial fishing], it鈥檚 not going to be enough to satisfy current or future demands. So we need to turn to seafood farming."
This article contains reported material from the Associated Press and The Guardian.
[Editor's note:聽An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated NOAA's official intent on aquaculture regulations. The agency's Western Pacific Council has taken up the matter, but there has not been a formal announcement from NOAA.]
