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By daybreak
Published: February 2, 2009
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On 28 January 2009, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted for a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to regulate offshore marine aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Council voted 11-15 in favor of allowing offshore aquaculture within the federally regulated Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which extends from 3 to 200 miles offshore. According to the Council, the plan represents the culmination of six years of comprehensive studies. The move to develop offshore aquaculture was spurred by a 2005 energy bill which gave the Minerals Management Service the authority to develop offshore resources, including fish farming.
If the plan is enacted, the Gulf of Mexico EEZ will be the first American area accessible for widespread open-water fish farming. A letter of opposition undersigned by over 112 conservation organizations, consumer organizations, fishing groups, seafood businesses, independent scientists, and other concerned parties, argued that the "Aquaculture FMP would establish a harmful precedent for regulating offshore aquaculture when future plans for national legislation under a new Administration, a new Congress, and a new leadership at NOAA are unresolved."
Other concerns addressed in the letter included the assertion that the Aquaculture FMP is not in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act guidelines, that Gulf Council and NOAA don’t have the legal authority to develop a permitting system for aquaculture in the EEZ, and that the standards of the Aquaculture FMP are not strong enough to adequately protect surrounding environments and the communities that depend on them.
President Obama has frozen many of the previous Administration’s regulations and speculation contintues about how the freez might affect the rule-making process associated with the new Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Plan.
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Published: February 2, 2009
Print
EmailOn 28 January 2009, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted for a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to regulate offshore marine aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Council voted 11-15 in favor of allowing offshore aquaculture within the federally regulated Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which extends from 3 to 200 miles offshore. According to the Council, the plan represents the culmination of six years of comprehensive studies. The move to develop offshore aquaculture was spurred by a 2005 energy bill which gave the Minerals Management Service the authority to develop offshore resources, including fish farming.
If the plan is enacted, the Gulf of Mexico EEZ will be the first American area accessible for widespread open-water fish farming. A letter of opposition undersigned by over 112 conservation organizations, consumer organizations, fishing groups, seafood businesses, independent scientists, and other concerned parties, argued that the "Aquaculture FMP would establish a harmful precedent for regulating offshore aquaculture when future plans for national legislation under a new Administration, a new Congress, and a new leadership at NOAA are unresolved."
Other concerns addressed in the letter included the assertion that the Aquaculture FMP is not in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act guidelines, that Gulf Council and NOAA don’t have the legal authority to develop a permitting system for aquaculture in the EEZ, and that the standards of the Aquaculture FMP are not strong enough to adequately protect surrounding environments and the communities that depend on them.
President Obama has frozen many of the previous Administration’s regulations and speculation contintues about how the freez might affect the rule-making process associated with the new Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Plan.
Submit Article