NOAA PROVIDES NARROW WINDOW FOR STAKEHOLDERS TO COMMENT ON 10-YEAR AQUACULTURE PLAN

On November 6th, NOAA announced that its 10-Year Aquaculture Plan was available for public review but left a narrow window for stakeholders to respond. Only comments received before the November 30th deadline were to be guaranteed consideration. Typically, NOAA allows a full 30-60 days for public comment. NCMC was quick to spot NOAA’s posting in the Federal Register and share the information with other conservation and fishing organizations, who are concerned about the future course of NOAA’s Aquaculture Program. NOAA and the Bush Administration are seeking to expedite offshore aquaculture development by facilitating a process for leasing large areas of U.S. federal waters to the aquaculture industry. Tailored to meet the needs of industry, NOAA’s plan does little to protect wild fish stocks, the environment and the rights of existing user groups who depend on healthy marine resources.

NCMC submitted comments to NOAA asking for the agency to revise its plan by including, as the primary plan goal, the protection of marine resources. Enforceable environmental standards for marine aquaculture development are essential to meeting this objective and should also be included within the plan’s initiatives. NCMC is particularly concerned with the reliance of the aquaculture industry on wild-caught forage species that comprise the bulk of the diets fed to farm-raised carnivores. In the case of tuna farming, researchers have found that up to 20 pounds of forage fish are required to raise a single pound of tuna1, resulting in a significant loss of available prey for ocean predators.