December 10, 2007

 

The Gulf of Mexico to be proving ground for US offshore aquaculture

 

 

A hearing on Monday (Dec 10, 2007) in St. Petersburg, Florida, promises to shed more light on the future of US offshore aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico, the St Petersburg Times reported. 

 

After similar hearings in three other states, the management council is expected to vote on the regulations in January.

 

Calls for the development of offshore aquaculture are getting stronger in the US as the nation's seafood demand rises and wildstock declines. The US imports 80 percent of its seafood and recent food safety concerns have strengthened the need for the US to farm its own seafood.

 

Much of the industry's attention is focused now on the Gulf of Mexico, which could break or make future efforts to spawn offshore aquaculture activity in the nation. The region is seen as the first big proving ground that US offshore aquaculture would be feasible despite the many voices of opposition.

 

Federal fisheries regulators are considering a programme allowing 10-year permits for companies interested in offshore aquaculture, the Times Picayune reported. Currently, only temporary permits are available.

 

Although federal authorities are pushing for development, efforts have been hamstrung by environmentalists calling for more research into environmental impacts and efforts to limit the impact on commercial fishing.

 

However, research has been ongoing for more than a decade and only a few businesses are in operation in this sector.

 

Without federal programmes for offshore fish farms, the industry in the US has been limited to state waters.

 

The few offshore aquaculture facilities in the United States are at a university facility off the rocky coast of New Hampshire, two companies in Hawaii and a company off the coast of Puerto Rico according to the Times Picayune.

 

With environmental concerns and the high barriers of entry ( start-up of such a project is upwards of US$10 million) and the long time required to turn a profit, it is expected that not many companies would take up the offer.

 

While China accounts for 70 percent of global farmed fish production, the US just accounts for one percent. 

 

However, there would be crucial differences that set US offshore aquaculture apart from the common kind.

 

While most countries in Asia mass produce seafood common species, US aquaculture would focus on the high end of the market such as grouper and redfish, species that are already overharvested.

 

Moreover, the offshore aquaculture methods would be more high tech- using submersible cages with underwater cameras and automated feeding systems.

 

If successful, knowledge on such techniques would could then be transferred to aquaculture companies in other countries.

 

While most Asian production focuses on shrimp and tilapia, current production in the Gulf of Mexico bans shrimp farming and would only allow for production of species native to the Gulf.

 

Moreover, Asian aquaculture production clusters farms in coastal areas while offshore aquaculture is defined as farming that takes place 3 to 200 miles offshore.

 

Research is now focusing on the species that are suitable to be farmed on the Gulf and the techniques to raise them.

 

Officials estimate that in a decade offshore aquaculture in the Gulf could produce one-fifth of the region's current wild catch.

 

Some obstacles to overcome are the strong ocean currents, which require strong cage materials. This is one concern especially near the hurricane-prone regions in the gulf. There may also be variations in growth as some fish would grow faster than others.

 

Moreover, limitations on offshore federal waters meant that projects can only be done on a small scale. Fears of future environmental regulations and uncertainties over profits have kept companies away.

 

Environmental concerns have ranged from the mixing of gene pools between wild and farmed species and disease spreading from these farms. On top of concerns over antibiotic usuage, there are also questions on sustainability as most farmed fishes depend on fishmeal for feed, thus harming fishes lower down the food chain. More damning is a United Nations report last year which found that nearly as many fish were harvested for fish meal as were created by aquaculture.

 

While some in the food business welcome the decision to explore fisheries in the Gulf in the hopes of getting a stable supply, others worry about the lack of quality in farmed fish, preferring wild caught fishes.