US mulls plunge into ocean aquaculture
Monday, 2 July 2007
WASHINGTON, July 1 (AFP): US government and industry leaders are urging a headlong plunge into ocean fish farming to meet surging global demand, even as environmental activists call for a go-slow approach.
A two-day Washington aquaculture summit hosted by the US Commerce Department in June brought together advocates of a broader push into fish farming as lawmakers push to facilitate ocean farms similar to those used in Asia, Norway and Chile.
Backers of aquaculture point out that with wild fish stocks declining around the world, nearly half the seafood on people's tables comes from farms. About 90 per cent of farmed seafood comes from Asia.
The United States accounts for less that two per cent of the 70 billion-dollar global business, said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, noting projections of a global shortfall of 40 million tons of seafood by 2030.
"We have an eight billion-dollar seafood trade deficit," Gutierrez said.
"We need both a strong commercial fishing industry and a robust aquaculture industry. Given the projections, there is plenty of room for both industries." In the United States, most fish farms are on land-based tanks, with a few ocean operations for shellfish such as oysters, clams and mussels.
Legislation introduced in Congress would allow the US government to issue offshore aquaculture permits, provide incentives for research and set environmental standards.
Backers of aquaculture say it can also be a blessing for coastal communities hurt by cutbacks in fishing due to new quotas to prevent depletion of fisheries.
The push for more aquaculture has posed a dilemma for environmentalists, who worry about pollution from farms, diseases from escaped fish and other potential impacts on wild species. At the same time, most activists recognise that overfishing of wild species is a problem that can only be alleviated through increases in farming of fish.
"If it happens we want to make sure its done in the most sustainable way," said the Ocean Conservancy's Tim Eichenberg, who attended the Washington summit.
Eichenberg said strong US environmental standards could help encourage better practices in other countries.
"We don't have any jurisdiction in foreign countries, but if we're not regulating it here, we can't ask other countries to do it in a sustainable way," he said.
"Additionally, if we don't have strong standards in the US, we can't keep products out of our country that are not produced in a sustainable way."
Andrea Kavanagh of the National Environmental Trust's Pure Salmon Campaign said the proposed legislation needs tougher environmental standards.
"The bill only makes a passing mention to environmental standards," she said. "That's not good enough."
Kavanagh said better practices include farming of fish lower on the food chain instead of carnivorous species-which are generally fed with ground-up meal from wild-caught fish.
A two-day Washington aquaculture summit hosted by the US Commerce Department in June brought together advocates of a broader push into fish farming as lawmakers push to facilitate ocean farms similar to those used in Asia, Norway and Chile.
Backers of aquaculture point out that with wild fish stocks declining around the world, nearly half the seafood on people's tables comes from farms. About 90 per cent of farmed seafood comes from Asia.
The United States accounts for less that two per cent of the 70 billion-dollar global business, said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, noting projections of a global shortfall of 40 million tons of seafood by 2030.
"We have an eight billion-dollar seafood trade deficit," Gutierrez said.
"We need both a strong commercial fishing industry and a robust aquaculture industry. Given the projections, there is plenty of room for both industries." In the United States, most fish farms are on land-based tanks, with a few ocean operations for shellfish such as oysters, clams and mussels.
Legislation introduced in Congress would allow the US government to issue offshore aquaculture permits, provide incentives for research and set environmental standards.
Backers of aquaculture say it can also be a blessing for coastal communities hurt by cutbacks in fishing due to new quotas to prevent depletion of fisheries.
The push for more aquaculture has posed a dilemma for environmentalists, who worry about pollution from farms, diseases from escaped fish and other potential impacts on wild species. At the same time, most activists recognise that overfishing of wild species is a problem that can only be alleviated through increases in farming of fish.
"If it happens we want to make sure its done in the most sustainable way," said the Ocean Conservancy's Tim Eichenberg, who attended the Washington summit.
Eichenberg said strong US environmental standards could help encourage better practices in other countries.
"We don't have any jurisdiction in foreign countries, but if we're not regulating it here, we can't ask other countries to do it in a sustainable way," he said.
"Additionally, if we don't have strong standards in the US, we can't keep products out of our country that are not produced in a sustainable way."
Andrea Kavanagh of the National Environmental Trust's Pure Salmon Campaign said the proposed legislation needs tougher environmental standards.
"The bill only makes a passing mention to environmental standards," she said. "That's not good enough."
Kavanagh said better practices include farming of fish lower on the food chain instead of carnivorous species-which are generally fed with ground-up meal from wild-caught fish.