The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a nationwide permit facilitating the rapid development and construction of large-scale commercial finfish aquaculture facilities in federal waters, among other major industries. The permit, which takes effect on March 15, 2021, will allow corporations to speed and scale up the development of industrial fish farms. This form of aquaculture […]
On January 7, the Biden transition team announced the nomination of Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo to be the next Secretary of Commerce. The Commerce Secretary oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), under which is the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). As such, Raimondo would oversee federal environmental and business policies that impact […]
SARASOTA, FL — On October 30, 2020, The Don’t Cage Our Ocean Coalition joined together today with local and regional partners to file an appeal against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pollution discharge permit for Velella Epsilon, an industrial finfish aquaculture facility vying for construction permits in federal waters off of Sarasota, Florida. The EPA’s permit […]
This piece appears courtesy of FoodPrint By Ryan Nebeker If you have eaten seafood recently, odds are you have eaten farmed seafood. You might have believed you were making a sustainable and healthy choice, one that helps protect wild populations and is a smart way to feed a growing population. But the real story of […]
Ocean Era is a company that operates a finfish aquaculture farm in Hawaii state waters. It has applied for permits for an aquaculture project, Velella Epsilon, about 45 miles off the coast of Sarasota, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. The project would grow 20,000 Almaco Jack to about 4.4 lbs, and, with anticipated loss […]
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held illegal the Department of Commerce’s federal regulations (through National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service) that would have permitted, for the very first time, large-scale industrial finfish aquaculture operations offshore in U.S. federal waters. The appellate court affirmed a 2018 […]
An Open Letter from Our Oceans Dear Humans, Did you know that this special day of June is World Oceans Day?! It’s a day to celebrate ME! And as part of that, I ask you today, to please listen to my humble message, so that you might better understand, and perhaps address, my current situation. […]
Expanding nearshore finfish farming or establishing an offshore industry in the U.S. carries significant risks to aquatic ecosystems and public health, according to a report published by researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. The report assesses whether an expanded […]
WOW – we can’t believe it’s been 5 years! This summer the RFC team celebrated it’s 5th birthday along with our extended family – our volunteers, gardeners, neighbors, and friends. We partied NOLA style with a big shrimp boil and all the fixings (corn, mushrooms, onions, garlic), fresh from the farm watermelon, red beans and […]
On Friday afternoon, February 12th, twelve fishing and public interest groups jointly sued the federal government, challenging new regulations allowing industrial fish farming in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), under the Department of Commerce are agencies charged with protecting […]