Monday, March 12, 2007

Fish farming: blessing or curse?

Be ready for the next wave of ocean development--the US government wants more fish farms.

Aquaculture, or fish farms, hold the potential to help solve the world's food problems if done right. If done wrong, ocean farming could cause serious problems for our existing wild fish. Just like farming on land, it's all about doing it right.

What should we expect? Well, there's one branch of government that's designated to promote aquaculture and also to regulate it, the Dept. of Commerce.

With that conflict of interest, it's hard to share Commerce Secretary Gutierrez's confidence that the government “can be pretty objective” about regulating aquaculture despite seeking to promote it.

Yeah, and I'd like to be in charge of auditing my own tax return.

1 comment:

Laolao said...

Being pretty familiar with the US Dept of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS), I think its safe to say that the growing aquaculture industry will be very heavily regulated and done in a way that minimizes is effects on the environment. NMFS is also responsible with the preservation of native marine and anadromous fish and are always fighting for better water quality. I think aquaculture can and is being done in a sustainable way across America and should be encouraged as fisheries are collapsing and agriculture has a harsh toll on the environment.