SEAFOOD.COM NEWS
Copyright 2007 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Co.
July 17, 2007

By Cory Reiss

WASHINGTON, Fishermen who offload at Shrimp Landing in Crystal River could share the Gulf of Mexico some day with huge cages growing what they now go out and catch.

Robert Gill, owner of the fish house and commercial dock, said fishermen might fret about competition from fish farming if they were not so worried about dwindling domestic stocks and rising imports that now account for 80 percent of the seafood on American plates.

About half of those imports come from foreign fish farms. The United States shares less than 1 percent of a $70 billion global aquaculture business. To Gill, that means the U.S. is letting a big catch get away.

Pressure on domestic seafood from imports prompted Congress last week to inch toward allowing fish farms in federal waters, a debate that has lingered for years. People on all sides of the issue say open-ocean aquaculture off the coast is a matter of when and how, not if, given America's place in the global seafood market.

'If that's to be permitted,' said Gill, a member of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 'one has to be concerned with what can we allow and what we must not allow.'

The U.S. has been paralyzed by fears about environmental contamination, food safety and competition with fishermen. Watchdog groups and a coalition of fishing groups, mostly from Alaska, oppose legislation pressed by the Bush administration to open federal waters to fish farming.

A similar bill sank last year. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week gave significant ground that could quiet some complaints. Federal officials and observers said the concession reflects the importance of moving forward, and it increases the odds that legislation will pass this time.

Moreover, the Gulf council held public hearings last week on its own proposal to allow aquaculture in federal waters off Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. If the council adopts the plan, it could force federal action.

The issue gained momentum with the recent Food and Drug Administration blockade of five farm-raised fish species from China that were found to contain prohibited antibiotics and chemicals. That ban spotlights the foreign origins of four out of every five fish on Americans' plates.

'If we're concerned about dog and cat food and children's toys, think of how much seafood we buy from China and South America,' said Dr. Kevan Main, director of the Center for Aquaculture Research and Development at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. 'There's quite a bit .... They're not regulated like things are here.'

Fish wish

Fish farming is expanding around the world to cope with demand and dwindling wild stocks.

Aquaculture has grown in the United States as well, but is limited to species such as catfish, trout, salmon and shellfish that can be grown inland or along coasts in ponds and pens. There are no commercial finfish cages in federal waters, which begin 3 miles from most shores but 9 miles from Florida and Texas in the Gulf.

States may allow finfish farming in their own waters, but there are only a few operations. California enacted an aquaculture law last year that environmental and food safety groups want copied at the federal level, but it has yet to spawn an industry there. Industry experts say California's law is too strict, and that farming near shore can be more difficult than in open waters that are deeper and less trafficked.

The Bush administration's aquaculture bill would establish a national regime for regional fishery management councils to approve commercial permits in federal waters.

'It's a top priority of the administration and has a fair amount of momentum,' said Dr. Michael Rubino, the aquaculture program manager for NOAA.

The offshore cages usually look like two cones stuck together at the base. They can be 80 feet in diameter or larger and are submerged to avoid wave action.

The Gulf proposal would establish permit procedures in that region. NOAA officials said the proposal is consistent with the federal bill, but it is vague on issues that have stirred opposition from environmental and safety groups across the country. The council is acting in anticipation of eventual federal approval of national rules, but it also is staking out positions on issues such as the species that would be allowed to grow in the cages.

Critics of these proposals want strict standards for the use of antibiotics and chemicals, water quality, the use of fish-based feed for carnivorous finfish and restrictions on genetically modified species that could escape.

'We want to make sure all the safeguards are in place that we can envision that will protect both livestock and the American people,' Rep. Lois Capps of California, a Democrat on the House Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee, said at a hearing.

Red herrings

Vice Adm. Conrad Lautenbacher, NOAA's administrator, stunned Democrats last week by telling the House subcommittee that the administration would agree to more specifics in its legislation rather than leaving them up to a rule-making process later. That was a significant concession to critics, but it likely means more time debating those details.

'We have the unique opportunity to get offshore aquaculture done right, before it can harm marine ecosystems,' said Tim Eichenberg, director of the Ocean Conservancy's Pacific office.

Randy MacMillan, president of the National Aquaculture Association, said regulations already enforced by agencies such as the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency should satisfy most of the concerns. He said leaving scientific decisions to the political process could produce stifling rules.

NOAA officials said the bill was intended to coordinate existing rules to promote safe aquaculture, but they said Lautenbacher is willing to clarify some issues for the sake of passing the measure.

Main, the Florida researcher, said concerns about antibiotics, chemicals, water quality and genetic modification are overblown. The United States, she said, already has rules that are far stronger than many countries shipping large amounts of seafood to America -- not just China.

'I'm concerned about passing a bill that is just a bill on the books,' she said, 'but that no one can actually implement.'