January 18, 2008 - SFB Staff — Consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch of Washington, D.C., says developing offshore aquaculture facilities in the Gulf of Mexico is illegal.

“The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and National Marine Fisheries Service are supposed to conserve and manage our U.S. fish resources,” said Wenonah Hauter, FWW executive director, in a press release yesterday. “The federal law that gives them authority to regulate fish and fishing was not intended to govern risky industrial facilities like ocean fish farming.”

As part of the public-comment process, yesterday the group submitted a letter to the Gulf Council that questions the siting of fish farms, the use of wild fish to feed farmed fish, economic protections for fishermen and safeguards for fish habitat.

“The Gulf Council has a number of members with aquaculture interests”, said FWW staff attorney Zach Corrigan. “They are trying to cobble together a plan for fish farming that is severely lacking in content, primarily because they just don’t have the legal authority necessary to include what needs to be included in a comprehensive aquaculture regime.”

Last March, the Bush administration submitted to Congress the National Offshore Aquaculture Act of 2007, designed to establish a regulatory framework for aquaculture in federal waters (three to 200 nautical miles offshore).

At the 2007 International Boston Seafood Show, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez emphasized the importance of growing the $1 billion U.S. aquaculture industry. He said the proposed bill will address the growing demand for seafood worldwide, the United States’ burgeoning $8 billion seafood trade deficit and the need for a safe, reliable domestic seafood supply.