OFF SHORE AND OFF TARGET

It’s hard to know whether to take seriously a plan from the Bush administration to allow fish farming in federal waters up to 200 miles from shore. Given the problems that Maine fish farms have had, moving operations farther offshore may sound good, but it may create more problems than it solves.

The rationale from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for its National Offshore Aquaculture bill sounds convincing. Projections are that worldwide seafood consumption will more than triple by 2025. Since the United State imports more than 70 percent of its seafood – with 40 percent being farmed – the aquaculture industry needs to grow here, according to NOAA. So it aims to up U.S. aquaculture output fivefold in 20 years.

A major reason given by NOAA for the offshore plan is that the deep water and strong current miles out to sea will do a better job of flushing away fish waste and other undesirable byproducts of fish farming. Sounds a lot like the reasoning behind building really tall smokestacks – the pollution will be better dispersed high up in the atmosphere. (Unfortunately, toxins like mercury have been found to settle in lakes and rivers in Maine, far from their sources.)

Even if there is more dispersion, these byproducts – including pesticides and disease – could then harm ocean ecosystems and wild species. Closer to shore, a federal judge three years ago ruled that two large aquaculture farms in Maine violated the Clean Water Act by discharging fish waste and escaped fish without a proper permit.

Under the NOAA proposal, there would be no requirement to meet Clean Water or any other environmental laws. The bill as drafted gives the secretary of commerce discretion to regulate offshore fish farms any way he sees fit. In fact, no environmental requirements are included in the proposed law.

It is also unclear how underwater pens and other farm equipment would coexist with shipping, commercial fishing and other current ocean uses. Finally, a presumed benefit of offshore farms is that they would not have to adhere to state laws. However, NOAA said it aimed to have its rules be consistent with state regulations. If this is the case, why bother going so far out to sea to follow rules that already exist for inshore aquaculture?

Maine recently completed a comprehensive permit for its fish farms. Rather than avoid such requirements, Maine’s rules could serve as a national guideline. The proposal offered by NOAA needs these sorts of protections before members of Congress can

consider enacting it.