The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering allowing commercial aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico–including areas offshore of Collier, Sarasota, and Pinellas counties.
The value of Florida’s biologically sensitive areas and endangered and threatened species should not be put at risk by floating fish farms.
We should not risk the productivity of our offshore or estuarine areas, which will ultimately prove to be more important for our future than harmful industrial fish farming.
Existing state and federal regulations do not address the significant damage fish farming has on the environment.
There is no reason to believe that the NOAA will protect Florida's economy and the environment from the potentially serious environmental damage associated with industrial fish farming.
Industrial fish farming will place Sarasota’s coastal waters, an area of high environmental sensitivity and marine productivity, at risk.
Presently the region supports numerous species of wildlife, major commercial and recreational fisheries, and several species of endangered animals.
The potential to exacerbate red tide blooms by fish farms in our region cannot be ignored.
The 60-day NOAA public comment period for a "programmatic environmental impact statement“ closes on Aug. 1, 2022.
The final virtual meeting where verbal comments can be made is from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. July 12. Go to https://bit.ly/3PWqL6E for the webinar or to listen and provide comments, dial 1-800-857-5095, and use passcode 9612327.
Electronic comments can be submitted at this link by searching for NOAA-NMFS-2022-0044. Enter NA in the required field if you want to remain anonymous.
Comments can also be mailed to Andrew Richard, regional aquaculture coordinator, NMFS, Southwest Regional Office, 263 13th Ave South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701. Include "GULF AOA PEIS" on the envelope.
Comments can include the type of aquaculture for a site, potentially adverse, beneficial, or cumulative impacts of the aquaculture programs, monitoring, and reporting requirements. For a list of more suggested areas for comment and more on how to comment, click here.
Glenn Compton is the Chairman of ManaSota 88, a non-profit organization that has spent over 30 years fighting to protect the environment of Manatee and Sarasota counties.
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