Saving Seafood

‘We want our fish to be wild’: Alaska congressman floats new bill to block offshore aquaculture

July 30, 2021 — Alaska’s longtime Republican Congressman Don Young has yet again introduced the Keep Fin Fish Free Act, legislation prohibiting the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce from authorizing commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the Federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) unless specifically authorized by Congress.

Young said the state’s residents are opposed to what he described as “hatchery fisheries” in the state.

“We don’t want that. We want our fish to be wild,” he said Thursday during a hearing held by the US House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.

Young said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be focusing on issues with Alaska’s ocean, and why fishermen are seeing fewer kings and other salmon during summer fishing seasons.

Read the full story at IntraFish

ALASKA: Rep. Young fights fish farms

May 21, 2019 — In his 46 years as Alaska’s lone representative in Congress, Don Young helped toss out foreign fishing fleets from Alaska waters with the onset of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976, and today he is intent on doing the same with offshore fish farms.

The MSA established an ‘exclusive economic zone’  for US fleets fishing from three to 200 miles from shore. Now, a bill introduced by Young aims to stop the Trump Administration’s push to use those waters for industrialized fish farming operations. The fish farms are being touted as a silver bullet to boost seafood production, provide jobs and reduce the $15 billion seafood trade deficit that comes from the nation importing over 85 percent of its seafood.

Earlier this month, Young filed the Keep Fin Fish Free Act which would stop officials from allowing fish farms in US offshore waters unless specifically authorized by Congress.

“The biggest selling power we have in Alaska is wild caught salmon and other fish products, and I don’t want that hurt,” Young said in a phone interview. “If we put in a commercial operation offshore, outside of state jurisdiction, we’d have a big problem in selling our wild Alaskan salmon.”

Young’s effort follows a push that began a year ago by over 120 aquaculture and food-related industries to have lawmakers introduce an Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, which failed to get any traction. The campaign is organized under a new trade group called  Stronger America Through Seafood and includes Cargill, Red Lobster, Pacific Seafoods and Seattle Fish Company.

Read the full story at The News Miner

New bill would limit finfish aquaculture start-ups

March 8, 2019 — Alaska Rep. Don Young (R) introduced the Keep Fin Fish Free Act in early May, a bill that that would prohibit federal agencies from authorizing commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the Federal Exclusive Economic Zone unless specifically authorized by Congress.

The seafood industry is critical to Alaska’s economy, and we must be doing all we can to protect the health and integrity of our state’s wild fish stock,” said Young. “If not properly managed, industrial aquaculture operations threaten Alaska’s unique ecosystem with non-native and genetically modified fish species.

There is only one federally regulated offshore aquaculture producer currently in operations in the United States — Catalina Sea Ranch, which produces 2 million pounds of mussels a year in a 100-acre site six miles off the coast of California. But plans to establish new marine finfish operations have been discussed off and on for years.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

With environmentalist support, Alaska Rep Don Young files anti-aquaculture bill

May 7, 2019 — Alaska Rep. Don Young filed legislation on Thursday 2 May that would ban U.S. officials from allowing the establishment of new commercial aquaculture operations in federal waters.

Young’s bill, the Keep Fin Fish Free Act, would keep both the Secretary of the Interior and the Commerce Secretary from permitting fish farms in the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone unless specifically authorized by Congress.

Young, a Republican, is the senior member of the House of Representatives. He also is a key legislator when it comes to legislation regarding the seafood industry.

“The seafood industry is critical to Alaska’s economy, and we must be doing all we can to protect the health and integrity of our state’s wild fish stock,” he said in a statement. “If not properly managed, industrial aquaculture operations threaten Alaska’s unique ecosystem with non-native and genetically modified fish species. My legislation takes needed steps to prevent the unchecked spread of aquaculture operations by reigning in the federal bureaucracy, and empowering Congress to determine where new aquaculture projects should be conducted.”

Young’s bill was immediately supported by numerous environmental organizations, including Friends of the Earth, the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance.

Read the full story at Seafood Source