Hawaii regulators have approved a Honolulu startup company’s plan to build the nation’s first tuna farm in waters off the Big Island.
Hawaii Oceanic Technology aims to create an environmentally friendly open ocean farm for bigeye tuna, a favorite source for sushi and sashimi that’s overfished in the wild. The project would also be the world’s first commercial bigeye farm.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted 4-to-1 to give Hawaii Oceanic permission to install three large underwater cages for the tuna.
"I’m concerned on a global level and a local level that we have severe overfishing going on, and something needs to be done," said board member John Morgan, who voted in favor of the project.