[motivator]

<P align=left>This was taken off of La. Sportsman.Please take the time to go to their website.Click on reports and read other opinions on FISH FARMING known as AQUACULTURE.It looks detremental to the GULF'S ecosystem.Pleasehelp fight aquaculture
stand up everyone for the rights of our clean gulf waters. write to the gulf council now !
www.gulfcouncil.org
voice your opion about this topic,
read up on it @ aquaculture problems on the google site. we don't want the frankenfish in our gulf.
the only people that will make money on this is noaa fisheries service and anybody in the business of exporting fish overseas like one individual who sits on the gulf council board. its all about money. fat wallets ! and the hell with what ever the outcome of the peoples jobs, water conditions, wild fisheries etc.
a few of you asked where would they put these cages. if i had to guess the midnight lump is a spot they would like.
they will ward off a perimiter for miles around these so called cages. they don't want any boat traffic around them or any fishing. so our fishing will be restricted no telling in how many places if they were put in place.
as of right now they have aquaculture projects for salmon. the salmon industry is already useing 80% of the menhaden oil produced in the us. so if they have to start making more menhaden oil to make food pellets to feed these fish in these cages they want to install here, that means they need more menhaden. the pogie industry will take a heavy blow off of the louisiana coast. if the pogie population gets wiped out , then what will the wild fish eat. we will lose more fish than anyone can imagin. they are not looking at that, all they see is $$$$$$. then when the fisheries die to the point where we can't catch any fish recreationally they will blame it on over fished by the public or commercial fisherman and cut our quotas back even more.
the reason hardly anyone knows about this is they are keeping it hush hush trying to slip it in quietly. once it passes they will run with it. the more you people express your thoughts the better.
theres a disease called white spot that fish get from living in these cages that they don't know how they will treat other than with antibotics in their food pellets that has not even been approved yet by the food and drug administration. its a guessing game about everything they are wanting to try here. no research on how it will effect the gulf waters yet. the aquaculture project in other countries have the waters there so contaminated with bile it is stinched with the smell of the dead , and the eco system is dieing. the aquaculture project in puerto rico is raiseing cobia, they have 15000 fish per cage and they don't even look like cobia. genetically they seem to have changed from being in captivity and fed these menhaden pellets.
put these cages somewhere else but in the gulf of mexico. this gulf council is suppose to be protecting our waters not destroying them.

 

[popcorn]

need some more refrences

 

[JLMass]

Aquaculture is not a bad thing for instance the Aquaculture farms are now raising cobia for market which will make the fish more popular but will make the stress on the wild fish less. also they are raising cubera snapper



http://www.snapperfarm.com/2006/aboutculebrancobia.htm

 

[motivator]

Sorry.I posted wrong.The information I am referring to is on Mike Lanes Rodnreel.com Go to the site and click on reports.Most of the information is in the form of opinions.I urge anyone interested to get as many facts as possible before making a decision.There is a book "Swimming in Circles" I ordered on Amazon but have not read it yet.I think there are different kinds of Aquaculture so look at all types before passing judgement.The type being proposed sounds like will involve holding fish in pens in the gulf.

 

[Halfmoon]

I have no problem with them holding fish in pens. As long as they let biologist study them and figure out ways to breed them so they can reproduce them and raise them in their pens. I think that would be a step into the right direction. I also think that the Hatcheries we have now should produce marine animals on the bottom of the food chain too. Mullet, crabs, baitfish, ect. I know that clam farming and oystering in cedar key is doing well. We have the technology, I just don't understand why we wait til its a problem.

Somanyproblems in this World can be figured out with common sense.

 

[Get'n Wade]

This is not a Good practice! These fish are constantly fed growth hormone and antibiotics if there is ever a release of these engineered fish into the native populations itwill be devastating. The demand of these fish onmenu's has to be reduced.Nowhere in this nation can you find Large Mouth ,White Tail or Dove On a Menu commercially. We have to Protect that.

 

[Xanadu]

Get'n Wade (12/17/2007)This is not a Good practice! These fish are constantly fed growth hormone and antibiotics if there is ever a release of these engineered fish into the native populations itwill be devastating. The demand of these fish onmenu's has to be reduced.Nowhere in this nation can you find Large Mouth ,White Tail or Dove On a Menu commercially. We have to Protect that.

How about they just deal with the difficulties effectively and reduce the problems?

 

[bigfishrookie]

Yep, let's have more taxpayer dollars studying this. Besides Gulf fishing has never been better and the populations of all fish are at an all-time high. Let's continue to deplete natural sources and not give way to technology and captive aquaculture. Our Gulf Council has done so much for us over the years, that I trust them on everything. Oh BTW- stop eating chicken, pork and beef! After all they are captive raised and hormones and enriched feed is used. And stop eating any fruits and veggies as the fertilizer used will contaminate our water through seepage via the Florida Aquifer.

Let's not raise shrimp in ponds, let's keep raking the bottom seafloor and disturbing the ecosystem. More bycatch death- the better.

Let's be like Japan and Tawain! Let's keep butchering natural stocks until they're gone.

Aquaculture? Ah- it's just a fad- it'll go away. I'm very happy with our current fishery programs and I am not willing to look at other options.

Sounds ignorant- doesn't it?



EDIT: I looked at the website provided. Kinda funny coming from a commercial fishing guide in a state with such minimal restrictions on damn near everything. Aren't these the guys that keep all our fish before they move east? What about the crawfish farming and impact it has on the environment? And the oil rigs? Did you know that many Louisiana folks have 2 bathing suits? 1 for the pool and 1 for the beach. Seems like tar balls are preety common there. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

As far as 'hush money'- seems to me the hushing is on the side of the commercial fishery! I'm not seeing a lot of 'aquaculturelobbying' goin on.I also didn't notice the proportions of aquacultured harvest versus open commercial harvest. Wonder how lop-sided that is.

This is nothing more than Commercial propaganda.

 

[Ranger Rick]

Coming from the west coast (Oregon/Washington) where aquaculture of salmon has been going on for YEARS, AND because I studied numerous aqua-farms and scientific reports on the farming practices of aquaculture in the US, Canada, Thailand, Mexico, and Central America, I would recommend everyone do the same if you really want to voice an educated opinion; there are some wonderful scientific reports on the web. The PEWS report on Marine Aquaculture is a very good read that covers most of the issues on both sides of the boat. If you only read one report on this subject I highly recommendthis one: http://http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Protecting_ocean_life/env_pew_oceans_aquaculture.pdf

If you know how the commercial fishery works, you can understand why they are against aquaculture - it could be detrimental to their livelyhood as they know it. More farmed fish available at the supermarket means the price of their catch goes down. OH NOOOO!

One of the funny things about the commercial fleet being against aquaculture is that they don't realize that the same practices that they lobby for, i.e. legalized raping of the seafloor as they pull their nets across the bottom of the oceans and bays and destroying fish populations by overharvesting - HAS THE SAME RESULT ON THE ESTUARINE AND OCEANENVIRONMENT as the aquaculture industry does.

As someone who has studied the environmental impact of aquaculture and seen first hand what it does to the local environment, aquaculture is NOT a good thing for the envrionment, the recreational fisherman, or the commercial fisherman. Aquaculture isa <U>self fulfilling prophecy</U>: the largedemand of seafood by the consumer is created by the industries being able to supply the consumer what they demand at a fairly cheap price. How? Because the industry DOES NOT PAY THE PRICE FORTHE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT THEY CREATE... the damage to the environment - caused by antibiotics, dyes, and chemicals added to the water trying to raise high populations of fish in tight quarters (to maximize output)will be paid by taxpayers who have to cleanup their damage later when the evidence of their actionstotally wipes out layers of the food chain and other species are impacted. It will take a few years, but never-fear,the result will be there.It has in every instance.

Think about it. When 20,000 fish in a pen go potty, it will sink to the bottom in the general vicinity of the pen. This fish-poo contains all the NON-NATIVE fish products and chemicals that have been fed to the fish and it will build up on the sea floor. At the very least, this build up is not natural and abiotic and biotic lifewill deviate from the norm. YOU HAVE IMPACTED THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE ECOSYSTEM at this point. The longer this unnatural act goes on,your impact spreads away from the site of thesource.

I could go for hours on this stuff - but I doubt anyone really wants to read this much babble. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Ranger Rick