January 31, 2020 — Jim Wyban, a prominent shrimp researcher and owner of consultancy Marine Genetics LLC, believes a shrimp aquaculture boom could be on the horizon – if someone can crack the code to turning a profit while competing with foreign imports.
In the 1990s, Wyban led the development of a specific pathogen-free (SPF) shrimp broodstock as the principal investigator of the U.S. Shrimp Consortium at Oceanic Institute, subsequently doubling the U.S. production of shrimp.
January 27, 2020 — A proposed finfish farm in federally controlled waters will be in the spotlight during a public hearing in Sarasota on Jan. 28. The farm will be the first of its kind in the Gulf of Mexico and discussions are expected to revolve around environmental concerns.
The hearing is part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s permitting process to determine if discharges from the fish will adversely affect the water.
“America imports over 90% of seafood that we eat,” said Neil Sims, CEO of Kampachi Farms. “If folks are really concerned about environmental issues, then they should be focused on growing seafood locally rather than exporting our ecological footprint.”
Kampachi Farms is the Hawaii-based company proposing the finfish farm dubbed Velella Epsilon. The project is proposed as a pilot program to test the viability of fish farms in the Gulf. A single net pen will raise about 20,000 almaco jack roughly 45 miles southwest of Sarasota. The farm is expected to produce about 88,000 pounds of fish.
January 23, 2020 — The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WSDFW) has approved a five-year permit for Cooke Aquaculture to farm steelhead trout in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, according to The Seattle Times.
In March 2018, Washington state’s legislature voted to phase out the farming of non-native finfish after some 500,000 Atlantic salmon escaped from a Cooke farm near Cypress Island the previous year.
January 23, 2020 — Janet Mills, the governor of the U.S. state of Maine, recently announced a 10-year strategic economic development plan to grow the state’s economy, and has included aquaculture as a target industry to support and cultivate. The plan is designed to combat poor economic growth in the state caused by lethargic gross domestic product, a shrinking workforce, and subpar state wages.
“This strategic plan creates a road map to foster collaboration, drive innovation, jump start growth, and, ultimately, achieve a diverse, forward-looking economy that offers everyone an opportunity to succeed,” Mills said in announcing the plan, according to MaineBiz.
January 23, 2020 — Few low-price finfish species have the ubiquitous recognition of tilapia.
The species, primarily farmed in Asia, has long been associated with inexpensive entry-level seafood, based on the low cost of production and the low price-ceiling for both buyers and consumers. A perennial staple for the seafood industry, the species has seen relatively flat pricing coupled with a rising supply in recent years.
January 23, 2020 — Environmental groups objecting to a Hawaii-based company’s plans to open the first offshore fish farm in the Gulf of Mexico about 45 miles west of Sarasota plan to demonstrate against the proposal before a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency permit hearing on Tuesday.
“Lots of people don’t know that this is happening in their backyard; it’s flying under their radar,” said Hallie Templeton, senior oceans campaigner at Friends of the Earth, one of several organizers of the Tuesday demonstration outside at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, where the hearing will be held.
Kampachi Farms plans to anchor a chain-link mesh pen offshore of Southwest Florida to raise 20,000 almaco jack fish for human consumption. The fish farm is a pilot project and would not only be the first for the Gulf but also the first in federal waters in the continental United States. If it works, more are expected to follow, both here and elsewhere.
The Kampachi proposal is drawing opposition from environmental groups because they don’t want offshore fish farms to start popping up around the country that could potentially pose a threat to clean water and the fishing industry.
January 22, 2020 — The Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee heard more Tuesday about the recent expansion of the land based aquaculture industry in Maine.
Officials with the Maine Department of Marine Resources and The Department of Environmental Protection briefed the committee members on permitting policies for land-based aquaculture.
Three of the newest aquaculture locations include Bucksport, Jonesport, and Belfast.
January 21, 2020 — The Maine Aquaculture Association has kicked off a new video series focused on telling the personal stories of aquatic farmers throughout the state to increase public visibility and underscore how aquaculture complements existing marine industries in coastal communities.
The series, titled “The Faces of Maine’s Working Waterfront,” borrows a premise that has boded well for the state’s commercial fishing industry – interviewing industry members at work out on the water to give consumers an inside look at the trade. The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association has been producing a video series called “Hard Tellin’” for a couple years.
January 17, 2020 — Seaweed, or sea vegetables, have been on a growth trajectory for the past 10 years. What started as a small industry has blossomed into a sustainable economic engine for coastal communities from New York to Maine, who have faced slowdowns in other once-dominant fisheries.
“Five percent of Maine’s aquaculture lease and limited-purpose aquaculture LPA holders (47 individuals) also hold a commercial lobster fishing license. Out of those 47, 12 of them farm kelp. Out of 60 total kelp farmers in Maine, that’s 20 percent,” says Afton Hupper of the Maine Aquaculture Association. “Lobstermen are already equipped with much of the gear required to start a kelp farm,” adds Hupper. “It is a good way to diversify and supplement their income.”
In Maine, harvest of all seaweed species peaked in 2018, with 22 million pounds, according to Maine Department of Marine Resources data. But a recent Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling has meant changes to the rockweed industry. Until this year, wild rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum) — with landings consistently making up more than 95 percent of all landings statewide — was harvested along coastlines. Last year, it was valued under $1 million at the docks.
But now, permission from landowners is required to harvest, since the court determined rockweed in the intertidal zone to be the landowner’s private property. Maine landowners now have a say in how rockweed is harvested, as well as the opportunity to benefit from the industry.
January 16, 2020 — In 2017, aquaculture production in the EU reached a decade high thanks to increased production of high-value species like salmon and seabass, according to a report by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (EUMOFA). The same report also shows that in 2015, per capita world consumption of fish was 8 percent higher than in 2005, with Asia registering the highest growth, followed by Europe.
With the consumption of fish and shellfish expected to rise further, and climate change rapidly affecting fisheries and habitats, it’s crucial to analyze the dynamics of fisheries and aquaculture production. The EU-funded ClimeFish project has been tackling this issue to help regulators, fish producers and aquaculture operators to predict, prepare and adapt to climate change.
Partially supported by ClimeFish, a team of researchers found that since the 1980s, ocean temperatures off the Norwegian coast have risen by 1 °C on average, as noted in a news item by project partner Nofima. The researchers predict further increases over the next decades, likely causing problems for salmon farming. Salmon is the third most consumed farmed fish in the EU, according to EUMOFA.