Editorial: Approval of fish farms in Gulf was premature

News Journal editorial

The Obama administration erred last week in allowing large-scale commercial fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico in advance of national standards that need to be approved by Congress.

Fish farming sounds great, a sustainable practice that can put seafood on American plates, provide jobs and take the pressure off wild fish stocks in danger of being overfished.

And maybe it could be all of that.

But fish farming can also be a serious threat to water quality in the Gulf of Mexico and to the health and future of wild fish populations. Critics of allowing premature farming operations in the Gulf asked, in vain, for the government to withhold approval until national standards can be put in place to ensure that the serious concerns about the practice can be addressed.

Officials say it could be years before the farms get up and running in the Gulf, and that they will have to meet the regulations that have yet to be drawn up. We can only hope they stick to that pledge, and we don't see any "experimental" farms getting permits, or waivers being issued if commercial interests are ready to go before the regulations are ready.

The risks from commercial fish farms in the wild are well known. They include the impact of concentrated fish waste on open waters and the sea bottom; the release of chemicals and drugs, including antibiotics, used to treat farmed fish; the danger of disease and parasites infecting wild populations; and the impact of hybrid commercial species that escape and breed with wild fish.

Last year The New York Times reported on a virulent virus that has killed millions of farm-raised salmon in Chile, Norway, Scotland and the Faroe Islands, as well as problems with pollution from the fish pens.

If it is achievable, a sustainable, environmentally safe fish farming industry would be a boon. But critics warn that concentrated, large-scale fish farming in open waters might never be safe.

That's why it is important to have stringent rules in place before fish farms are established in the Gulf.


http://www.pnj.com/article/20090911/...09110312/1020l