Congressman Don Young’s “Keep Fin Fish Free Act” protects oceans from floating factory farms
WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced the Keep Fin Fish Free Act (H.R. 2467), which places a moratorium on commercial permitting of marine finfish aquaculture facilities in federally controlled areas of the ocean. These facilities routinely cause massive farmed fish spills – like the August 2017 spill of more than 260,000 non-native Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound – which threaten wild fish stocks by spreading pests and disease, and increasing competition for food, habitat, and reproduction. Facilities also directly discharge a slew of toxins like untreated fish waste and pharmaceuticals; attract and entangle marine mammals and seabirds; and marginalize wild-capture fisheries and coastal economies.