Ocean Conservancy Supports Strong National Standards for Aquaculture Gulf Fishery Council Delays Vote on a Dangerously Inadequate Approach Until January
Gulf Council to consider a plan that will open up federal waters to an aquaculture industry without proper environmental and health standards - setting a dangerous precedent at a time when leadership is needed

October 30, 2008

Media Contact: Tim McHugh

Mobile, AL Today’s decision by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to delay moving forward with aquaculture in federal waters was the correct and responsible decision, not only for the Gulf itself but for the country at large. The Gulf Council recognized the intense public opposition toward the plan and mounting evidence that they may not have the legal authority to be acting in this manner to begin with. The Council has agreed that the aquaculture Fishery Management Plan, as it exists today, needs much more legal and environmental review and has decided to hold off on any final action until the Council reconvenes in Mississippi early next year. Had the Gulf Council approved the plan today, only a final review by the Department of Commerce would have been required before open-ocean aquaculture permitting began.

"This decision echoes what Ocean Conservancy has long held: Before aquaculture moves forward into our federally managed oceans, strong environmental, socioeconomic and liability standards need to be in place," explained George Leonard, director of Ocean Conservancy’s aquaculture program. "That being said, the Council has made it clear they intend to bring this plan up again at their next meeting. The problems we have today will still be with us in January. What is truly needed are strong federal standards coming out of the congress, not the individual regional fishery councils."

Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV), Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources which oversees NOAA, voiced his concerns in a letter submitted to the Council on October 24th. "The establishment of an aquaculture permitting system through a regional Council FMP in the Gulf or any other region runs directly counter to NOAA's efforts to draft and secure passage of federal legislation to authorize a national program for the development and permitting of offshore aquaculture, using a standardized approach guided by strong environmental standards in all regions of federal waters. Instead, if adopted, the Gulf Council FMP would establish a harmful precedent by initiating a fragmented system for regulating offshore aquaculture."

Ocean Conservancy has been working to win strong environmental standards for aquaculture during the past two Congresses and through various state legislatures. California’s state guidelines, adopted in 2006, serve as a model for the kind of national legislation that Ocean Conservancy envisions. National standards must ensure that offshore aquaculture develops in an orderly manner, incorporates appropriate public input, protects the long-term public interest in healthy marine ecosystems and poses minimal risks to fisheries, marine wildlife, and the ecosystems on which they depend. Specific provisions include a requirement to farm only native species of local genotype, minimize the use of wild-caught fish as feed, prevent discharges to the maximum extent practicable and prevent the spread of disease while minimizing the use of all drugs and chemicals.

To learn more about Ocean Conservancy visit www.oceanconservancy.org