Gulf Council Ignores Overwhelming Public Opposition to Push Through A Bad Plan for Commercial-Scale Fish Farming
2008-10-24
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Marianne Cufone or Erin Greenfield
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Gulf Council Ignores Overwhelming Public Opposition to Push Through A Bad Plan for Commercial-Scale Fish Farming
Food & Water Watch Research Shows that Some Council Members Could Benefit from Proposed Plan
Washington, DC – Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group, is calling on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to protect fishing, ocean resources and coastal communities rather than promote personal interests. At its meeting from October 27-30, 2008 in Mobile, Alabama, the Gulf Council, an advisory body to the federal government that helps create regional fishing regulations, is scheduled to approve a plan that would permit ocean fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico. Also known as “offshore aquaculture”, the new industry is intended to mass produce fish in floating cages or pens in Gulf of Mexico waters.
There has been overwhelming public opposition to the Council’s ocean fish farming plan. Specific concerns include: the plan has no guarantees that there will be public benefits from exclusive use of common resources for private profit, no specific limits on pollution discharge, no protections for endangered and threatened species, no details on where the fish farms can be located and allows oil rigs to be used for aquaculture.
Despite these and other serious concerns, the Gulf Council, supported by federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), has been pushing to complete its plan since January 2007. Food & Water Watch recently collected information that sheds light on why the plan keeps moving forward despite its obvious unpopularity - individuals on the Gulf Council could benefit if the plan is finalized.
“This is a case of the fox guarding the henhouse,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “The Gulf Council has received a landslide of comments opposing its plan to allow open water aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico – over 10,000 written comments. Similar endeavors elsewhere are associated with health risks to consumers, harmful impacts on ocean resources, and negative economic consequences for coastal communities. However, these issues have been glossed over, and the plan continues toward approval. Obviously, members of the Council have their own motives for fast-tracking a flawed plan.”
Proponents of offshore aquaculture on the Council have already received over $10 million in financial support from the federal government for aquaculture research and endeavors. If the Gulf plan is approved, and the industry goes commercial-scale, certain Council members could gain even more.
“The public has a right to know that some Council members are serving their own interests and are not making decisions to protect and benefit the general public and the Gulf,” Hauter continued. “The Gulf Council should prioritize protecting wild fish, fishing and coastal communities, not individual gains.”
A question and answer session with the Council, as well as opportunity for public comment will be held at 5:00PM on October 27th at the Renaissance Riverview Hotel 64 S Water Street in Mobile, Alabama. Food & Water Watch, along with many fishermen, environmentalists, students and other concerned community members will be there to demand that the Gulf Council not approve this plan.
To view the Food & Water Watch document entitled Offshore Fish Farming Proponents Steeped in Government Funding please visit: www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/-offshore-fish-farming-proponents-funding
Food & Water Watch is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit consumer rights organization that challenges the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources. Visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.