FISH
Protect Our Oceans from Factory Fish Farms
Support Senate Bill 3417, the Research in Aquaculture Opportunity
and Responsibility Act of 2010
O cean factory fish farming, also known as offshore aquaculture, involves growing
thousands of fish in large cages and net pens in open ocean waters. These
facilities threaten coastal and fishing communities, consumers, and the health of
our oceans. A new piece of legislation would protect us as well as our marine
environment by requiring a detailed report on the impacts from ocean factory farms
worldwide. The bill would also ban these facilities for up to three and half years in our
federal ocean waters while the report is prepared and reviewed.
What’s Wrong with Ocean Factory Fish
Farming?
Like factory fish farms on land, ocean fish farms are gener-
ally big, dirty and dangerous.
Bad for the environment: Uneaten fish feed, fish waste and
any chemicals or antibiotics used in the operation flow
through the cages directly into the ocean. This can signifi-
cantly harm the ocean environment. Caged fish can escape
and overtake or interbreed with wild fish, altering natural
Pacific threadfin inside a factory fish farm off the coast of Hawaii. Photo by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce.
Fact Sheet • June 2010
behavior and weakening important genetic traits. Open-
water salmon farms in the North Atlantic have over two
million fish escapes each year — not an example we want
to follow in U.S. waters. Farmed fish, caged or escaped,
can also spread disease to wild fish.
Bad for communities: Factory fish farms can interfere with
the livelihoods of commercial and recreational fishermen
by taking over traditional fishing grounds or harming wild
fish populations. Plus, these fish farms are likely to fol-
low existing seafood trade patterns and ship their product
elsewhere for higher profits, leaving the United States with
damaged habitats, depressed local economies and no new
food sources.
Ocean factory farming is unlikely to increase the domes-
tic supply of fish, as the fish grown in such operations are
often carnivorous — they require animal protein to grow.
Often farmed fish are fed diets that include small, wild fish,
so the practice can reduce the amount of food in the ocean
for larger wild fish, marine mammals, birds and people too
— especially in the various countries where smaller fish
are a main source of protein. Often it takes many pounds
of wild fish to grow just one pound of farmed fish. This re-
sults in a net loss of seafood and ultimately decreases food
security in the United States and across the globe.
Bad for our health: Factory fish farms often produce lower-
quality seafood using under-regulated antibiotics or chemi-
cals that could threaten consumers’ health. Excessive use
of antibiotics on fish farms can cause bacteria to become
antibiotic-resistant, sometimes making human pathogens
untreatable with common medicines.
Who Supports Factory Fish Farms?
The current push for ocean factory fish farms in U.S.
federal waters (between three to 200 miles off the coast)
began under the Bush administration and has contin-
ued through the Obama administration via the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA,
the very agency tasked with conserving and managing our
ocean resources, is oddly one of the strongest promoters of
the industry. Right now, NOAA is crafting plans for a new
federal policy to promote ocean fish farms, instead of pur-
suing other, more sustainable options to supplement wild
domestic seafood.

Protecting Our Oceans and Ourselves

The Research in Aquaculture Opportunity and Responsibil-
ity Act of 2010 (S. 3417), introduced by Senator Vitter (R-
LA), gives the waters off our coast up to a three-and-a-half-
An example of a factory fish farm cage off the coast of Hawaii. Photo by the
year reprieve from the threat of factory fish farms. There is National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce.
no good reason to move forward with offshore aquaculture
until we have fully evaluated the impacts, especially on
communities, wildlife and consumers, and determined Some forms of shellfish can be farmed sustainably, includ-
whether it’s a safe option. The bill will do the following: ing mussels, clams and oysters. Farming these species does
not involve the use of chemicals or wild fish in feed, and in
• Prevent the approval of plans, permits, rules and regu-
some cases can help improve water quality.
lations for offshore aquaculture permits for three and a
half years. There’s also a technology supported by this bill to grow fish
on land in closed-loop, low-energy, high-yield operations
• Require the Secretary of Commerce to submit a full
that reuse nearly all the water initially put into the system.
report to Congress including:
These systems can create jobs and increase local seafood
ƒƒ Impacts to native fish species from offshore aqua- supply in a variety of locations.
culture operations around the world

ƒƒ Economic impacts to recreational and commercial Support This Bill!

fishing Multinational corporations have forever changed the way
food is grown on land — to the detriment of public health,
ƒƒ Impacts on coastal communities the environment and local communities. Senate Bill 3417
ƒƒ A full analysis of environmental issues and impacts can help steer us toward a more sustainable future for sea-
food and protect our oceans, coastal and fishing communi-
ƒƒ Recommendations on regulatory guidelines to ties and consumers.
protect native fish species/populations

• Require the Secretary of Commerce to review alter- Take Action

nate, more sustainable options to supplement wild-
caught seafood by submitting a full report on the
potential for land-based recirculating aquaculture
systems and providing grants for such research.
Please ask your senators to support Senate Bill 3417 and
put a moratorium on ocean factory fish farms.
To help protect our oceans, go to
www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish for more information.

Better Solutions
This new legislation not only helps to protect our oceans
from negative impacts of factory fish farming — it also
helps move us toward a better future. While offshore
aquaculture comes with many negatives and guarantees no For more information:
positives, there are options that can be combined with im- web: www.foodandwaterwatch.org
proved stewardship of our wild fish populations to increase email: info@fwwatch.org
supply of safe, sustainable seafood, create new green jobs phone: (202) 683-2500 (DC) • (415) 293-9900 (CA)
and protect the marine environment.
Copyright © June 2010 Food & Water Watch