The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council last week approved plans for commercial fish farming aquaculture projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The plans were approved by the Council at their meeting in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and now must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce before becoming law.

The plans are controversial for a number of reasons. Opponents say that if aquaculture concerns are allowed to net nearby schools of baitfish to feed to their penned fish, they will deplete stocks of wild baits. There are also ecological concerns about the pollutants released from large schools of pen-raised fish, which opponents say could adversely affect the Florida Keys waters and its reef system. The Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association, Reef Relief and the Islamorada Charter Boat Association have opposed the plans.

Advocates of the fish farming plans, however, believe that the fish farms offer economic benefits and food production without damage to natural resources by putting less pressure on wild fish stocks.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said that the fish farms would most likely be established in the northern Gulf, off the coast of Alabama and Mississippi. The Council’s plan would allow production of all Gulf species except for shrimp and coral.

--David Conway, Managing Editor