March 4, 2014
US aquaculture industry set to embrace change in mind-set
Sean O''Scannlain''s recent appointment to the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) chair position shows that the country''s seafood industry is ready to embrace a change in mind-set.
The appointment of the Fortune Fish chief executive officer represents a great opportunity for the NFI to speak out about produce more seafood domestically, said Neil Sims, owner of Kampachi Farms.
Sims described O''Scannlain as "the guy to do it. As a major distributor, he understands, sees both ends- the consumers, restaurateurs, retailers -and also sees he is facing difficulty obtaining supply".
O''Scannlain himself hopes to use his year-long term as NFI chair to develop the US regulatory framework for farming, an issue which has been getting up the noses of aquaculturepractitioners for years.
NFI and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will meet in March and April, when O''Scannlain hopes to open a dialogue about raising the profile of aquaculture and looking into the permit issuing process.
He aims to create initiatives within NFI to make aquaculture a known priority for years beyond his term, and hopes to put some of its permanent staff to work laying the groundwork for future developments in the field, he said.
The US seafood nutrition partnership is another initiative he''d like to promote as doing good work, and he also plans to encourage NFI members – many of the largest seafood firms in the country, be they importers, processor or distributors – to be more active in the political side of things.
O''Scannlain himself has nurtured connections with congress people, and even shown his own around Fortune Fish''s plant in Chicago.
At present, the regulatory red tape for those wishing to embark on an aquaculture project in US waters is something of a headache.
To carry out aquaculture of a federally-managed species within federal waters (between three and 200 miles offshore) requires three different permits: one from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one from the US Army Corps to allow the structure in US waters, and one from NOAA.
The first two are "readily available" according to sources, but NOAA''s has long been hard to come by, as fish farmers such as Kampachi Farms and aborted cobia project Snapperfarms can attest to.
Kampachi Farms, owned by Neil Sims, had so much difficulty expanding its Hawaii site that eventually the firm moved to Mexico – a country which is highly supportive of entrepreneurial fish farming projects, Sims said.
However, according to the head of NOAA''s office of aquaculture, Michael Rubino, this plan is soon to be moved on to the office of management and budget, which will check it before passing it on for public comment. It is now hoped the plan will have passed before the end of the year, and could act as a model for other regional fishery councils to emulate.
Brian O''Hanlon, founder of offshore cobia producer Open Blue, was another entrepreneur who found life easier outside of US waters. The New Yorker first set up a company in Puerto Rico, Snapperfarm, to try farming cobia in offshore waters. However, O''Hanlon gave up after 11 years, citing prohibitive US regulations that made growth impossible.
"We really hope to see some advancements. Any amount of the country''s seafood consumption, which is 90% imports, we can offset is a direct boost to the US economy," said Joe Hendrix of Aqualine Americas, whose parent company provides farming equipment worldwide.
He said that the US government does not issue permits. The demand and interest from the private sector, and the seafood industry, has been there for some time. The NFI getting behind it can only be a good sign. At times wild fisheries have been active in blocking aquaculture activities, but there''s no reason for that now. Seafood companies are waking up to the realisation that they need a new source, because wild fisheries cannot provide for US demand.