The Great Open Ocean Sell-Off
(Page 2 of 2)
November / December 2004
Craig Cox Utne magazine
'Though funded by public money, the process of developing
open-ocean aquaculture has been conducted with an astonishingly
arrogant degree of secrecy,' Ben Belton writes in The Ecologist
magazine (July/Aug. 2004). Belton, a sociologist, is the co-author
of a report by the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and
Trade Policy (IATP) on the effects of offshore fish farming. Among
their concerns: Fish waste could pollute nearby waters. Certain
diseases associated with fish farms could spread beyond the cages.
And farm-bred fish could escape from their confines, genetically
contaminating wild stocks.
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The result, in Belton's view, would be the marine equivalent of
industrial hog farms. While NOAA officials insist that the
'footprint' of any such facility would be small, others say that's
not entirely the issue. 'Cumulatively,' Belton writes, 'the effects
of several large farms close together could be devastating.' He
also argues that the plan could serve as a cover for the big oil
companies, who would rather turn their defunct offshore platforms
into aquaculture centers than clean them up. It's all part of a
pattern that's emerged under President George W. Bush, he adds.
Private interests trump environmental concerns at every turn, a
situation cloaked in 'secrecy, deception, and breathtakingly
disingenuous PR.'
As for the aquaculture bill that NOAA has been helping to draft,
some say it's headed to Congress before year's end, though as of
September the agency said it had no way of confirming that. Belton
and his IATP co-authors want the federal government to issue a
moratorium on all open-ocean development until the country's
lawmakers have a chance to draw up tough new regulations. Their
wish list includes a law to ensure that every proposal is fully
studied for its environmental effects. They also want all permits
to be temporary.
The greatest concern, critics warn, is that aquaculture is only
the start of a wider trend toward privatizing the seas. And hungry
for the billions of dollars to be made by selling off those waters,
a deficit-strapped U.S. government may be ready to lead the
way.
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