A federal judge repealed a nationwide permit for industrial fish farming off the coasts of Florida and California. Instead, the company leading the project will have to turn to individualized permits.
Ocean Era, a Hawaii-based company, proposed a series of industrial fishnets, including three that would be located roughly 45-miles southwest of Sarasota.
Their proposal predates a President Donald Trump 2020 executive order that initially created these “blanket” permits that could be granted by the Army Corp of Engineers.
With U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson revoking the nationwide permit on March 17, Ocean Era would have to turn to individualized permits to create fish farms.
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Marianne Cufone, an environmental attorney in New Orleans, said she opposes the project, but the national permit would have been worse than individual permits.
"An individualized permitting process is arguably a bit more detailed and so that's something that supports the public in protecting its public trust,” she said.
The Army Corps of Engineers would need to issue this permit after a closer look at each area, rather than give blanket approval for any industrial fish farming project.
“They said there was going to be no significant impact to the environment from this project and that is simply not true,” Cufone said.
The Army Corps of Engineers declined requests for an interview.
Cufone said adding industrial fish farming to the Gulf could exacerbate existing issues, such as red tide.
She added that the individual permitting process would make the public more aware of the project going on off the coast.
Don’t Cage Our Oceans Legislative Director James Mitchell was part of the team that fought against the nationwide permits.
While his organization also opposes the fish farming project entirely, he said individual permits are much better than the blanket approval.
“Fish farms need a case-by-case evaluation because ocean environments are all different,” he said. “The Gulf is way different from the Pacific Northwest or New England. But, for our group as a whole, we think that pursuing net pens floating in the ocean is still just not the right approach.”
Mitchell cited issues similar fish farms have had around the world, including an outbreak of sea lice and bacterial kidney disease in Norway this year.
He said when fish escape finfish pens, they can outcompete wild fish, which can “cause havoc” on the ecosystems and commercial fisheries.
Instead, Mitchell advocated for keeping seafood farming local.
Ocean Era did not respond to requests for an interview at the time of publication.
