Author: Audrey Fox

Today, President Biden announced Dr. Rick Spinrad as the new Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As NOAA lead, Dr. Spinrad will oversee agency policies on weather, climate, and ocean science, including environmental and business policies that affect fishing and coastal economies. 

In response to Biden’s selection, Friends of the Earth, Recirculating Farms and Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, founding members of the Don’t Cage Our Ocean Coalition, issued the following statement:

We are excited about the strong conservation and science background that Dr. Spinrad will bring to NOAA leadership. We urge Dr. Spinrad to turn the page on the past administration’s unpopular agenda to push development of an outdated and unwanted marine finfish farming industry in the U.S. Our oceans are a precious resource, and NOAA should prioritize protecting the health of our marine ecosystems that so many fishing and tourism businesses depend on. This could start easily with ending the agency’s support for expanding offshore finfish aquaculture in our waters.

Contact: kara.watkinschow@berlinrosen.com

WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a nationwide permit facilitating the rapid development and construction of large-scale commercial finfish aquaculture facilities in federal waters, among other major industries.

The permit, which takes effect on March 15, 2021, will allow corporations to speed and scale up the development of industrial fish farms. This form of aquaculture uses large, floating net pens and cages that allow pollution, like excess feed, fish waste and chemicals, to flow freely into open waters, damaging marine ecosystems and harming the local fishing communities and coastal economies that depend on them. The new rule follows the Trump administration’s executive order mandating federal agencies to fast-track development, while cutting environmental review processes and other conservation measures.

The nationwide permit may also bolster controversial pilot facilities, such as the proposed Velella Epsilon project off the coast of Sarasota.

In response to the new rule, members of the Don’t Cage Our Ocean Coalition released the following statements:

“Industrial finfish facilities harm wild ecosystems, risk coastal economies and threaten local fishermen’s livelihoods. President-elect Biden has already made clear that his administration will be closely scrutinizing all regulations and rulemaking when it comes to this harmful form of seafood production. The Corps’ decision to move forward anyway is both hasty and unwarranted,” said Rosanna Marie Neil, policy counsel for Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance.

“Congress has authority under the Congressional Review Act to evaluate problematic agency rulemaking. This rush by the U.S. Army Corps to push development of an unwanted new finfish farming industry is appropriate for Congressional review. We urge Congress to take action so that regulations support our existing local fishing communities and seafood production businesses, rather than promoting a new, unnecessary industry to further damage our already struggling marine ecosystems,” said Marianne Cufone, Director of the Recirculating Farms Coalition.

“We will continue pushing for strong environmental oversight to protect our marine ecosystems from the growing threat of destructive industrial development. The last thing we should be doing is rubber-stamping industrial ocean fish farms. We have already seen in places like Washington, Florida, and California how controversial these facilities are. This new nationwide permitting program will only result in more harm.” said Hallie Templeton, senior oceans campaigner for Friends of the Earth.

Contact: Claudia Hensley, claudia.hensley@berlinrosen.com

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) reintroduced the Keep Fin Fish Free Act (H.R. 274), 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 recent escape of nearly 50,000 non-native salmon in Scotland after a storm destroyed the pens  – which threaten wild fish 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 negatively impact wild-capture fisheries and coastal economies.

The reintroduction of this legislation comes as the incoming Biden/Harris administration is setting priorities for environmental policy which could curb the expansion of this unnecessary and destructive industry in U.S. waters. H.R. 274 would specifically prohibit federal agencies from permitting commercial finfish aquaculture facilities in marine waters offshore, unless and until Congress passes a future law authorizing such permits.

Members of the Don’t Cage Our Ocean Coalition, including the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Recirculating Farms and Friends of the Earth, released the following statement on the reintroduction: 

If passed, this legislation could prevent the waste of time and resources continuously expended to fight development of industrial ocean finfish farming around the United States. Its reintroduction should encourage Congress and the new administration to move forward with additional actions, especially executive orders, to reverse the rubber stamping of these facilities leftover from the Trump administration, and stop  other harmful offshore aquaculture projects like Velella Epsilon in the Gulf of Mexico. We applaud Congressman Young for standing up against floating factory fish farms and protecting our waters, fisheries and coastal communities.

Contact: Claudia Hensley, claudia.hensley@berlinrosen.com

SARASOTA, FL —  The Don’t Cage Our Ocean Coalition joined together today with local and regional partners to file an appeal against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pollution discharge permit for Velella Epsilon, an industrial finfish aquaculture facility vying for construction permits in federal waters off of Sarasota, Florida. The EPA’s permit will allow the facility to dump untreated wastewater directly into the surrounding ecosystems.

Groups filing the appeal, which include Center for Food Safety, Recirculating Farms Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Center for Biological Diversity, Food & Water Watch, Healthy Gulf, Suncoast Waterkeeper, and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, argue that the permit violates the Clean Water Act (CWA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The organizations released the following statement today:

“This permit should never have been issued. The EPA violated the law by failing to evaluate the potential dangers of the wastewater that this facility will release, such as contributing to harmful algal blooms (also often known as red tide) and pharmaceutical residues in the ocean and antibiotic resistance in people. By allowing this facility to pollute, the EPA has failed to protect the vulnerable Gulf ecosystem and the communities that rely on it. This needs to stop.”

The appeal permit will be available upon request.

Contact: Claudia Hensley, claudia.hensley@berlinrosen.com; Meredith Stevenson, mstevenson@centerforfoodsafety.org; Aisha Dukule, adukule@foe.org