The Food & Water Watch, in conjunction with several other organisations, have filed a lawsuit against the secretary of commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, over a plan to allow offshore industrial fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico.

Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organisation, said the plan violates existing federal laws.

The group also said the entities it is charging did not take required actions in allowing the plan to be finalised, and do not have the authority to permit ocean aquaculture.

The plan would allow sea farms in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, except off Texas and West Florida. The groups are concerned that the industrial facilities would produce lower quality fish for consumers, undercut local fishermen's prices for their catch, and pollute surrounding waters.

These operations would mainly benefit private companies but harm consumers, coastal communities and the environment, said Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter.

Development of the first ocean fish farms in US federal waters is a serious matter that cannot be allowed to happen without detailed agency review and decision-making, but the agencies in question have stayed silent and allowed the plan to simply become effective, said Marianne Cufone, director of Food & Water Watch Fish Programme. 

The process by which the plan was pushed through was unfair and inappropriate, said Food & Water Watch staff attorney Zach Corrigan.

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the entities involved have the authority to regulate fish and fishing, but setting up a permit system for ocean aquaculture facilities is far outside their jurisdiction.