1st ocean fish farm proposed for east coast off New England

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. –

A New Hampshire group needs to be the primary to carry offshore fish farming to the waters off New England by elevating salmon and trout in open-ocean pens miles from land, however critics worry the plan might hurt the surroundings.

The overwhelming majority of U.S. aquaculture, the observe of elevating and harvesting fish in managed settings, takes place in coastal waters or on land, in tanks and ponds. But New Hampshire-based Blue Water Fisheries needs to put 40 submersible fish pens in water about 7.5 miles (12 kilometres) off Newburyport, Massachusetts, on two websites that whole practically a sq. mile, in line with federal paperwork reviewed by The Associated Press.

The farm would develop tens of millions of kilos of Atlantic salmon and steelhead trout, two widespread seafood species, paperwork state. The proposal wants a battery of approvals, and can be the primary of its sort off the East Coast.

Hawaii was the primary U.S. state to permit operation of economic open ocean aquaculture. Supporters of the farms tout them as a brand new methodology of sustainable fish farming, however environmental teams have voiced considerations about air pollution and the potential of tasks releasing non-native species. Other offshore fish farming tasks have been proposed for the waters off California and Florida.

The New England firm hasn’t mentioned a lot about its plans. Scott Flood, who’s listed as a consultant for Blue Water Fisheries on paperwork, declined to touch upon the mission. Other representatives for the corporate didn’t return cellphone calls looking for remark.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is working with Blue Water Fisheries and different federal companies on the regulatory and approvals course of, mentioned Allison Ferreira, a spokesperson for the company. The firm wants authorizations from NOAA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, amongst different approvals.

A key step within the approvals course of for Blue Water Fisheries is the preparation of an environmental impression assertion, Ferreria mentioned. There shouldn’t be but a timeline for that course of, she mentioned.

The aquaculture mission would come with pens submerged about 15 meters (49 toes) beneath the floor in depths of about 80 meters (262 toes), federal paperwork state. The mission would yield “up to 25.6 million pounds of a combination of steelhead trout and Atlantic salmon annually,” the paperwork state. The firm’s year-round operations would happen out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The mission additionally features a proposal to aquaculture lumpfish, a species of fish that can be utilized to regulate parasites.

Aquaculture of Atlantic salmon in ocean pens already takes place in New England, as fish farming big Cooke Aquaculture cultures the fish off Maine. However, these operations are positioned in coastal areas.

Any mission involving the offshore tradition of Atlantic salmon is prone to get the eye of conservation teams, because the salmon are listed beneath the Endangered Species Act within the U.S. Conservation teams have lengthy made the case that farming salmon within the marine surroundings is unhealthy for wild salmon, partly as a result of the farmed fish can escape and jeopardize wild salmon by hybridizing with them and competing with them for meals. They’ve additionally sounded alarms in regards to the unfold of parasites and the switch of illnesses.

Conservation teams have additionally argued the fish farms are unhealthy for the surroundings due to air pollution within the type of the antibiotics and pesticides usually used on the farms.

Fish farming additionally has its supporters, who say the aquaculture of widespread seafood species helps to take fishing stress off wild fish shares.

The New Hampshire group’s mission raises potential alarms about doable fish escapes, mentioned John Burrows, govt director for U.S. operations with the Atlantic Salmon Federation, a conservation group. Using web pens removed from the shoreside operations “significantly raises the likelihood of storm damage or predators causing escapes that may go undetected for several days,” Burrows mentioned.

Don’t Cage Our Oceans, a nationwide group that opposes offshore fish farming, can also be monitoring the mission, mentioned Andrianna Natsoulas, the coalition’s marketing campaign director.

“This is highly problematic, especially at the massive scale of this proposed operation once fully built-out,” Burrows mentioned.