Re: Ocean Fish Farming


"Golden State Poppy" <GoldenStatePoppy@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1147877355.458813.50600@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ocean fish-farming rules await governor's decision
BAY AREA LAWMAKER DESIGNED STRICT REGULATIONS
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News

California is known worldwide for its wine, strawberries, lettuce and
other farm products.

One day farm-raised halibut, tuna or sea bass could be added to that
list -- all grown in giant floating ocean cages.

To address ecological concerns, a Bay Area state legislator has
successfully pushed through a bill that would give California the
strictest ocean fish-farming rules in the United States.

``For once we're getting out in front of an environmental problem
rather than waiting for a problem to develop,'' said Sen. Joe Simitian,
D-Palo Alto.

Simitian's bill, SB 201, passed the state Senate last week and now sits
on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

The bill would require the California Fish and Game Commission to
identify which coastal locations are best suited for fish farming, or
aquaculture. It also would direct the commission to draw up broad rules
requiring fish-farming companies to reduce pollution and chemicals, tag
all farmed fish, minimize the risk of fish escaping and return each
site ``to its original condition'' after the operation is finished.

That sounds really practical, tagging all farmed fish. If you are growing
tens of thousands of those things, is it even possible to "tag" them all?
If you do have to "tag them" is it just possible you have increased the cost
so much that it becomes completely impractical to grow them in the first
place?



California's aquaculture industry currently brings in $83 million a
year. It is made up of freshwater fish, such as trout and tilapia,
grown in tanks in Southern California, and also shellfish. No fish are
now commercially farmed off the California coast -- just abalone,
oysters and mussels. Because of concerns over pollution, disease and
escapes, the state in 2003 banned farming of salmon and non-native fish
in all coastal waters.

Which means that other States benefit, from the lack of competition?

But demand for farmed fish is growing enormously.

``It's coming. There's no question about that,'' Simitian said. ``We've
seen an immense growth in aquaculture in the last 20 years. We're
trying to protect our coastal waters and our fishing industry.''

Like trying to stop mother nature from doing what it is going to do anyway?





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