February 11, 2011

 

US proposes first aquaculture guidelines

 

 

The federal government issued on Wednesday (Feb 9) the nation's first policy guidelines for aquaculture, paving the way for farm-raised seafood to be produced in federal waters on certain conditions.

 

The guidelines, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), offer general standards that regional fishery councils will have to meet when they propose fish farms. The operations should not threaten wild fish stocks or saltwater ecosystems.

 

Aquaculture has been growing rapidly worldwide, and in 2009, farmed fish and shellfish surpassed wild-caught stocks as the major source of seafood worldwide.

 

NOAA estimates that 84% of the seafood consumed in the US is now imported, and half of that is produced through aquaculture.

 

While shellfish aquaculture is common in state waters, which typically extend to three miles offshore, most fin fish farmed in the US are freshwater plant-eating fish like tilapia. There has been little farming of saltwater fin fish.

 

In 2009, NOAA allowed an aquaculture plan proposed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which regulates fishing in federal waters in the gulf, to proceed. Federal officials said then that in the absence of a federal policy, they had no grounds to block it.

 

Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the gulf plan would be evaluated in light of the new guidelines.

 

Marine aquaculture operations in other countries have drawn criticism from environmentalists and researchers who say they contribute to pollution and disease among wild fish. Opponents also noted that farmed fish like salmon typically feed on pellets made from smaller ocean fish, which contributes to declines in wild fish stocks.

 

George H. Leonard, director of the aquaculture programme at the Ocean Conservancy, called the draft guidelines issued Wednesday (Feb 9) ''a step in the right direction.'' He said that ''piecemeal aquaculture standards'' like those for the gulf could undermine American efforts to produce sustainably farmed seafood.

 

Among other things, the guidelines recommend more research on what Eric Schwaab, NOAA's assistant administrator for fisheries, called ''alternate feeds'' that would substitute for wild fish in the diets of farmed fish and might have less of an impact on the ecosystem.

 

The guidelines also call for a ban on stocking fish farms with non-native fish until it can be demonstrated that their presence will not cause ''undue harm to wild species, habitats or ecosystems in the event of an escape.''

 

The public may comment on the aquaculture guidelines through April 11. Schwaab said he expected a final version to be adopted this year.

 

Noting that wild fish stocks are under threat globally, the agency said that aquaculture in the US and abroad was likely to take a growing share in the market for fish.