Fishing Industry Groups Debate Over Environmentally Sound and Economically Sustainable Aquaculture – Part 2

That’s also where offshore fish-farming operations could be permitted across hundreds of square miles of deep water. Aside from doing harm to commercial fishing, opponents fear the new industry could spawn disease by spreading pathogens to wild populations, and even shipwreck the Gulf tourism business.

The aquaculture fishery management plan would ban fish farming in some areas. Carrie Simmons, a fisheries biologist at the council, said specified zones including marine reserves, coral reef areas, artificial reef zones, or habitat areas of concern, would be off limits. But beyond that, she said, “any federal waters are open to potential aquaculture.”

Under the plan, raising fish in pens or nets could include all native species now managed by the council in the Gulf. Snapper, grouper, cobia and red drum, among other types, could be raised. The council also is asking NOAA for rules that would allow the raising of highly migratory species, such as tuna.

Of equal concern to commercial fishermen, shipping companies, sports fishermen and others, would be an off-limits aspect. Aquaculture areas would be closed to all vessels except those associated with the venture.

If approved, the process would move quickly. The plan calls for cages, nets or pens to be in place within two years after permits are issued. Fish must be placed in those areas within three years after issuance. Companies also would be allowed to use offshore oil and gas platforms for aquaculture operations.

Over the next 10 years, anywhere from five to 20 aquaculture operations would be permitted.

The total maximum yield allowed would be 64 million pounds of fish annually, with each individual operation limited to 20 percent of the total.

The Ocean Conservancy, a 30-year-old conservation group, has spearheaded efforts to derail the aquaculture permitting. Leonard said the group is “not fundamentally opposed to the concept of ocean aquaculture,” but wants a different approach.

Others also doubt that NOAA or the council have legal authority to regulate the new industry. U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, chairman of Congress’ Committee on Natural Resources, has written NOAA and asked that the aquaculture plan be dropped.

Meanwhile, at the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, staff members believe aquaculture’s time has come. “We’re hoping the council will see that it’s ready for implementation,” Simmons said.

Source: http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/1090224.html

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Fishing Industry Groups Debate Over Environmentally Sound and Economically Sustainable Aquaculture – Part 1

January 30, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

Fishing industry groups debate over environmentally sound and economically sustainable aquaculture industry - Part 1

BAY ST. LOUIS — This small city will become the stage for a historic event next week, when fishery officials are expected to decide on a proposal for a new industry that would raise fish in offshore pens far out in the deep, blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The pending decision by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has sparked a storm of controversy among academics, sportsmen, scientists, fishing industry groups, and others. The Tampa-based council, in turn, says its goal with the plan is to increase fish yield through creation of an “environmentally sound and economically sustainable aquaculture industry.”

If approved, the plan would permit as many as 20 aquaculture operations to raise fish now available only by catching them in the wild. That would launch the first deep water, offshore fish farm industry in U.S. history. The sites could be located off the coasts of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana or Texas, raising as much as 64 million pounds of fish annually.

Critics say the plan, as envisioned, is haphazard and could harm wild fish, birds, sharks and other predators, and conceivably sink a Gulf fishing fleet that supports thousands of people.

“This is really an irresponsible way to go,” said George Leonard, a scientist with the Washington, D.C,. based Ocean Conservancy. He believes raising fish in pens will have far-ranging negative effects.

Although little known to the general public, the aquaculture program proposal has been around for years. It grew out of policies from the former administration of George W. Bush, and nearly came to a vote once before. The Fishery Management Council agreed to delay a vote until Wednesday.

“This has been kicked around for close to six years now,” said Charlene Ponce, communications director for the Fishery Management Council. “It’s not something they’re taking lightly, or rushing into.”

Yet “rush” is precisely the term many opponents of the plan are using, and some go even further. In a position paper on the issue, John Ogden, a biology professor at the University of Southern Florida, said the council “has proceeded helter-skelter in developing its aquaculture plan,” ignoring advice from experts and private citizens alike.

Here’s what the furor is all about:

All the Gulf states have state waters extending short distances offshore. In Mississippi, they stretch out for three miles. Beyond that, the Gulf becomes federal waters that stretch another 200 miles. That’s where the Gulf council has dominion over fishery management and conservation.

Source: http://www.sunherald.com/201/story/1090224.html

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A Revolution in Open Ocean Aquaculture Technology

January 29, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
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Society’s evolutionary advantage has evaporated at the ocean’s edge.

Even in a modern age awash in technology and precision control, the world’s seafood harvesters continue to operate as hunter-gatherers on a mass scale. This alarming reality has created a serious near-term threat to the survival of the ocean ecosystem. Wild fisheries are being depleted at a devastating rate - fish are caught well before they can mature and reproduce, subsequently, population numbers are in rapid decline, and soon, demand will far exceed this primitive system’s capacity to sustainably provide seafood.

The solution to this impending global crisis lies in the domesticated production of seafood in an environmentally appropriate and economically feasible manner. To that end, Hawaii Oceanic Technology, Inc. has created the Oceansphere™. A revolution in open ocean aquaculture technology, the Oceansphere™ makes farming fish in the open ocean a practical reality.

Self-sustaining and untethered to the ocean floor, the Oceansphere™ is designed to produce large harvests in a very small footprint. For example, twelve Oceanspheres in less than half of a square mile can yield as much as 24,000 tons of seafood. The Oceansphere™ is powered by a patent pending hybrid ocean thermal energy conversion system that does not depend on fossil fuels, so the entire system operates with minimal environmental impact.

Designed to operate offshore in deep water, this next-generation architecture exploits the expansive dimension the ocean affords and in doing so, stands to provide quality seafood in quantities that dwarf existing alternatives. The large size of the Oceansphere offers lower stocking densities so fish can grow in a more healthy environment. Additionally, a carefully controlled food supply avoids the contaminant absorption found in wild fish and ensures a safer end product.

Our Solution

Hawaii Oceanic Technology is devoted to ocean stewardship and best aquaculture practices. Hawaii is known as the “Silicon Valley” of aquaculture.

Under the advisorship of some of the best minds in ocean science and marine engineering, our Oceansphere™ technology is poised to revolutionize open ocean fish farming with an elegant, practical and responsible solution. The core intellectual property and key to the Oceansphere™ is our exclusive patent pending hybrid ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) power plant that generates 100% of the electricity necessary to geostatically position the 82,500 cubic-meter Oceansphere™.

In addition to the OTEC power plant, our patent pending design includes twenty-one unique innovations that pertain to robotics, geostatic positioning, inertial navigation telemetry and environmentally responsible fish rearing. By leveraging such breadth of expertise and intellectual property, the Oceansphere™ is able to support a self-sustaining deep water environment nearly ten times larger than any contemporary tethered cage. The massive scale and deep water operation of this technology affords many benefits, all of which combine to provide an economically viable and environmentally sustainable method to meet society’s ever-growing demand for seafood.

In addition to licensing our proprietary technologies worldwide, Hawaii Oceanic Technology will farm our King Ahi™ brand of tuna in Hawaii’s pristine waters.

Source: http://www.hioceanictech.com/home.aspx

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Aquapod that Converts Energy from Currents and Waves in the Ocean into Electricity

January 28, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
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A company experimenting with wave power conversion attempted to test its device two miles off the coast of Newburyport, Mass. to see if ocean waves in the region are strong enough to generate energy for offshore aquaculture.

Resolute Marine Energy, Inc. of Watertown, Mass. has a system, which makes use of a buoy undulating on the ocean's surface to create a pumping action with an arm to a platform below.

Bill Staby, CEO of Resolute Marine, said currents were unexpectedly strong at the site of deployment, near the mouth of the Merrimack River, and a mooring line snapped, ending the test before the converter made it into the water.

Staby said his company will try again, probably next month.
090104FISHCAGE2_375px (OCEAN FARM TECHNOLOGIES)
Resolute Marine's wave power converter could be used in conjunction with offshore wind farms to even out the surges of power generated by wind, but its first application is powering aquaculture pens, which are used for producing fish.

"We are going to try to develop wave energy for cost-effective utility scale grid energy," said Staby, but he added: "Aquaculture needs power now to move offshore." Staby's converter was developed in part by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Cliff Goudey, with a $90,000 Phase I grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and converts wave power to compressed air power.

Steve Page, CEO of Ocean Farm Technologies, Inc. of Searsmont, Maine, is now a lead manager on the project. Page has developed a 64-foot, 3,600-cubic-meter cage made of polyethylene and wire mesh to grow fish deep in the ocean.

"As finfish aquaculture moves into deeper ocean sites, we will need sustained, autonomous sources of power," Page said.

quaPod net pens are designed to be moored at a stationary, licensed site at a depth near 100 feet.

Staby's converter creates compressed air that could power auto-feed systems, lower the cage, or in the future, power propellers to move the cage from place to place.

Goudey developed a propulsion system consisting of twin, 8-foot, 6.2-horsepower propellers that can power the cage out to its station in the ocean. The system was demonstrated on AquaPod last year at SnapperFarm, Inc. in Puerto Rico.

Ocean Farm has sold the $135,000 cage to fish farmers in Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico and South Korea, but so far it has been sold independently of the propulsion system.

George Nardi, chief technology officer for GreatBay Aquaculture, LLC, a land-based fish hatchery in Portsmouth, wants to put the AquaPod into commercial use this spring at a moored site near Sorrento, Maine.

Nardi said once the company has learned to safely operate the AquaPod, the cage could be used to farm fish off the coasts of New England.

Source: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Harnessing+of+ocean+energy+in+experiment&articleId=55e5fc0c-450b-486a-9532-063697c366f9

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The future of Aquaponic/Aquaculture Farms

January 27, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

Today's young people may someday tell their grandchildren how, when they were kids, they could go to the store and buy wild seafood. And the grandchildren will be amazed.

Our already stressed fisheries can't keep up with the demands of a growing world population, so just as we no longer rely on wild berries and bison to feed ourselves, we must accept that aquaculture is part of our future.

The question is: How will we get there?

Next Wednesday, at its meeting in Bay St. Louis, Miss., the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will hear public comment on a fisheries management plan for regulating fish farms in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The plan would open the door to aquaculture — enclosed areas in which fish are raised and harvested — up to 200 miles offshore in the Gulf.

Support for the concept comes from many directions.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been pushing for years to develop U.S. aquaculture, while Congress dragged its feet.

Richard Langan, who has overseen successful demonstration projects as director of the Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center at the University of New Hampshire, said, "Moving forward is the only way you're going to find out what this is all about."

Bob Jones, executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, based in Tallahassee, said there is a need for more seafood, the Gulf is the place to raise it, and so his group supports the plan "with some reservations."

If you've dined on shrimp, tilapia or salmon recently, it's likely you've already benefitted from aquaculture. But the threats that give pause to opponents include disease spreading to wild fish, pollution (just look at the Gulf's "dead zone" caused by farming on land), and using wild fish as feed, thus putting even more pressure on fisheries.

At 550 pages, the Gulf Council's plan includes more detail on permits, protections, disease and environmental impact than most people would care to read. Still, it fails in several areas, according to George Leonard, director of the aquaculture program for the Ocean Conservancy.

Mr. Leonard said that the council's plan is not specific enough on environmental and liability issues, that a regional council's authority to adopt the plan is dubious, that the plan may be illegal from a national environmental perspective, and that it undermines the role of Congress, encouraging a fragmented system of regulation.

"We believe that farmed fish have to be part of our future," Leonard said, before adding, "It has to be done right."

Let's do it right, which — if we're talking about federal waters and our nation's food supply — means getting the federal government to act on the issue. There's a new president and a new Congress, and soon there will be a new administrator at NOAA. So there's hope.

The council's work on the fisheries plan has been valuable, but at this point, it would be wise to take the public input — and then wait. Just a bit longer.

Give the federal government one more chance to help make certain that the United States can compete in the world of offshore aquaculture while keeping our food and waters safe under a unified set of regulations.

Source: http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090124/OPINION01/901240303/1006/OPINION

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Open Ocean Aquaculture is not Fishing – Part 2

January 26, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

This sort of planning is a familiar concept. On land, it's called zoning. Every town, city, county and state has planning offices that produce detailed maps of land use to guide development that minimizes user conflicts and ideally balances development with conservation.

Few, if any, do so for the open ocean. (Massachusetts is a notable exception.)

Congress should be putting in place strong national environmental, health and liability standards that cover not just the Gulf of Mexico, but all of our federally managed oceans. A one-council-at-a-time approach, without the foundation of these national standards, is unacceptable.

We must take the time to bring order to the oceans through inte grated and comprehensive ocean governance. We must assemble and analyze the oceanographic, economic and social information needed to make thoughtful decisions for the long-term use — and health — of our oceans.

The Gulf aquaculture plan sets us off on a development path without the benefit of foresight provided by such a process.

We would never allow comparable major industrial development to happen on land without a high level of planning, sufficient public in volvement and careful consideration of the consequences.

We must not allow it to begin in the ocean with the Gulf Council's open-ocean aquaculture plan.

It is the responsibility of every citizen, of our elected representatives and of our federal and state agencies to ensure that, in the face of an uncertain and changing world, we make intelligent decisions about our ocean's future.

Moving ahead with a plan for open ocean aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico is no plan at all.

Source: http://www.al.com/opinion/press-register/insight.ssf?/base/opinion/1232878580174400.xml&coll=3

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Open Ocean Aquaculture is not Fishing – Part 1

January 25, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · 1 Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

This month, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council will take final action on a draft plan for permitting open-ocean aquaculture in the Gulf. This should raise serious concern for all Americans — and not just those along the Gulf Coast or seafood lovers.

It represents the first step in the largest industrial development of America's federally managed oceans since 1953.

The Gulf Council's plan epitomizes what is wrong with fisheries management in the United States. The regional fishery councils have long been dominated by commercial fishing interests who ignore, at will, science in favor of continued exploitation of threatened stocks.

In this tradition, the Gulf Council has proceeded helter-skelter in developing its aquaculture plan, against skepticism from scientists and objections from a broad array of recreational and commercial fishing interests, conservation organizations, and a broad swath of private citizens.

Let's make one thing clear: Open ocean aquaculture is not fishing. It is a major industry, akin to factory farming on land, with many well-known environmental impacts and numerous potential unintended consequences.

Large-scale aquaculture operations overseas have been responsible for the introduction of non-native fish, altered genetics of local fish stocks, the spread of disease, and pollution from excess feed and drug applications.

The Gulf Council makes dubious claims that aquaculture will relieve the relentless pressure on already stressed fisheries in the Gulf, assist in the rebuilding of over-fished stocks and improve fishing.

But this assertion is based much more on wishful thinking and hoped-for results than scientific fact and analysis.

To survive and to prosper, we must make good use of the ocean, but we must not use it up. In its landmark 2004 report to President Bush, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy made comprehensive recommendations which recognized the potential damage of free-for-all industrial development in the nation's coastal ocean.

Key among these was the recommendation that ocean development should be preceded by planning that takes into account all the potential uses of the ocean, including offshore aquaculture.

Source: http://www.al.com/opinion/press-register/insight.ssf?/base/opinion/1232878580174400.xml&coll=3

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Orchid Business Thriving in Florida

January 24, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

Boca Raton resident Shari Weidenbaum would rather spend money pampering her orchids than herself.

"I will spend that extra $50 to $100 on my orchids instead of saving up for a new pair of shoes. I don't need that lipstick or extra special hair treatment. I want to make sure that orchid is happy," said the hobbyist, a former dental hygienist who has close to 300 orchids

Hyla Levine, co-owner of Green Barn Orchid Supplies in Delray Beach, said she has plenty of customers like Weidenbaum who are helping her business thrive despite difficult economic times.

"They will give up another luxury before they give up caring for their plants," said Levine, who co-owns the 6-year-old business operating out of a 60-year-old former horse barn with Lynn Lappin. Lappin also owns Elegant Orchids, a 20-year-old nursery and design shop on the same property. Levine, who has grown orchids for about 15 years, spotted the orchid supply niche after she had a difficult time finding items she needed, such as pots, baskets, chemicals, wire products and potting mixes.

"I started it because as a hobbyist, I couldn't get supplies. You had to wait for a show to come," Levine said.

There are a limited number of companies which specialize in orchid supplies, and only five are in Florida, Levine said. The company carries 600 or so different items, from shade cloth to coconut liners and 42 sizes of baskets. Green Barn even has an on-site welder who makes aluminum orchid benches, which are tiered, like a baker's rack.

About half of Green Barn's more than $100,000 a year in sales comes from walk-in customers. The other half is generated by Internet sales thorough its www.greenbarnorchid.com site. It also sells items for hydroponic and bonsai growing.

"People order supplies from as far away as New Zealand. I have regular Alaska customers. Customers range from 13-year-old boys to 90-year-old women. You can't imagine the variety of people," Levine said.

Levine also holds free classes on orchid growing on the weekends.

Weidenbaum said Levine's knowledge about orchids keeps customers coming back. "She has the best inventory of merchandise anybody could ever hope to have. What is even more exciting about Hyla is she is full of mounds of information," Weidenbaum said. "No question is too small. She loves what she does."

Courtesy http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/01/12/a3f_orchids_0112.html

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Unwanted Chemicals produce two-head fish

January 23, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

CHEMICAL contamination from farms has been blamed after millions of fish larvae in a New South Wales river were found to have grown two heads.
The disfigured larvae are thought to have been affected by one of two popular farm chemicals, either the insecticide endosulphan or the fungicide carbendazim, the Courier Mail reports.

Former NSW fisheries scientist and aquaculture veterinarian Matt Landos yesterday called on the Federal Government to ban the chemicals and urgently find replacements.

Dr Landos said about 90 per cent of larvae spawned at the Sunland Fish Hatchery from bass taken from the river were deformed and all died within 48 hours.

"It certainly looks like the fish have been exposed to something in the river," Dr Landos said.

"I wouldn't like to be having kids and living next to a place that uses these chemicals and I wouldn't like to be drinking tank water where they are in use."

Hatchery owner Gwen Gilson blames chemicals used by macadamia farmers near her Boreen Point business for the deformities.

"Some embryos split into two heads, some had two equal heads and a small tail and some had one big long head and a small tail coming out of the head," she said.

Farmers nearby declined to comment.

Dr Landos said the chemicals were potentially human carcinogens and could have entered the river through any number of sources such as spraying or run-off even though there was no evidence of improper use.

Carbendazim had a history of causing embryonic defects and had been banned in the US, while endosulphan was banned in New Zealand.

"These chemicals mess up cell development," he said. "There's no other plausible explanation for what's going on."

Biosecurity Queensland chief Ron Glanville said an investigation into the claims started two years ago.

No evidence of chemicals used on an adjoining property were found in water, fish, fish eggs, chooks and horse samples.

"These things are notoriously hard to track down," he said.

Dr Landos and Dr Glanville said there was no danger for people either swimming or eating fish from the Noosa River because if chemicals were in the water, levels would likely be exceedingly low.

The Federal Environment Department has been asked to investigate.

Courtesy http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24906233-948,00.html

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Fish waste can solve global warming

January 22, 2009 by Amaete Umanah · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Aquaponics, Backyard Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics

Scientists have discovered that fish guts play a major role in the marine carbon cycle, making them unexpected allies against climate change.

Previously, UN scientists have warned that when the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere, it also becomes more acidic, threatening coral reefs and other sea life.

This new study, to be published Friday in the journal Science, shows fish excretions of calcium carbonate can offset this acidity.

"This study really is the first glimpse of the huge impact fish have on our carbon cycle — and why we need them in the ocean," said Villy Christensen, associate professor at the University of B.C. Fisheries Centre. "We must buck the current trend of clear-cutting of the oceans and foster these unrecognized allies against climate change."

Until now, scientists believed the ocean's calcium carbonate, which dissolves to control the acidity, or pH, of sea water, came from the external "skeletons" of plankton.

The new findings now show that fish are responsible for producing three to 15 per cent of marine calcium carbonate.

The team of researchers from Canada, the U.S. and U.K., say the estimate is conservative and could be three times higher.

By continuously drinking sea water, fish are ingesting an excess of calcium, which they turn into calcium carbonate crystals in their guts. They then simply excrete these unwanted "gut rocks" in a process that's separate from digestion and production of feces.

The fish that produce calcium carbonate are "bony fish," a group that includes 90 per cent of marine fish species, but not sharks or rays.

As part of the study, Christensen helped answer the daunting question of how many fish are in the sea.

Christensen and colleague Simon Jennings from the U.K.'s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science conducted independent studies and came to similar conclusions.

They estimate there are between 812 million and two billion tonnes of fish in the ocean.

Lead author Rod Wilson of the University of Exeter says it's vital that scientists build on the research.

"We have really only scratched the surface of knowing the chemistry and fate of fish carbonates," said Wilson. "Given current concerns about the acidification of our seas through CO2 emissions, it is more important than ever that we understand how the pH balance of the sea is normally maintained."

Courtesy http://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Fish+excretions+fight+climate+change+Scientists/1181812/story.html

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