GOM fish farm discussion

[Ray]

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/634...ml?index=1&c=y

We need to discuss this on Salty Cajun and send the link to this to the La. Charter Boat Assoc., Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, CCA and the La. Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries so they can see our opinions also.

[cmdrost]

Personally, and just my opinion....I really don't see a problem with it. It would really hurt the commercial side and help the recreational side, but would provide more food to the public, and reduce the pressure of the fisheries overall.

[yak'em-n-stack'em]

there is middle ground and people are gonna have to change, that is where the problem is, people are resistant to change

[LaAngler]

“I think it’s criminal,” said Charlie Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Charter Boat Association. “It is well known that fish in contained spaces develop and spread disease and parasites. There are just too many things that could go wrong.”


what is this guy's backround?

any sources to this claim?

[eman]

Due to what little info that is known (or has been released to the public) about the long term effects of the pollution from the farms and any damage to the wild stocks of non farmed fish. i would have to say , I could not support aqua farming at this time.
If the govt can show that there would be no adverse effects then that would be one strike taken off the list.
Also, How will this affect the commercial fishermen in louisiana?
i would want to see short term and long term data for this question.

[Raymond]

Here is another link that might help your decisions; http://www.asmak.biz/

[LaAngler]

my first thought is that it could be a good thing, but then again i may be a little biased

i don't care about commercial fishermen or charter captains for that matter

[Bluechip]

Originally Posted by yak'em-n-stack'em

there is middle ground and people are gonna have to change, that is where the problem is, people are resistant to change

Thats what Obama said too and yall are bashing him all the time....

[Ray]

It will start out good, but then the companies running it will let go the American workers and hire some "Guest Workers" from another country cause they will work for very little pay.
There was discussion about these in the Med. Sea on Discovery Channel. As long as the current is moving, the fish poop will not be a problem. If the currents are nill, then it will fall to the bottom and cause dead areas with little oxygen.
I think the GOM is big enough and has enough current to not hurt, unless there is a fish farm at every platform.
I am for it for the commercial and monetary reasons, but I am against it cause it will end up being subsidized by my tax money.
I also think it should be monitored by observers from different organizations, not state or federal monitors who can be persuaded by campaign donations and/or lobbyist.

[southern151]

I read about this the other day and, honestly, I was unaware that there was any shortages of fish, especially the fish that they mentioned in the article. I seem to always be able to find all the fish that I want whenever I want them and the prices haven't been that bad. You could stir the export pot but, how many countries are really gonna buy our fish. They grow their own for the most part or try to send it here.

Bruce, as for not caring about commercial fishermen, the history of and the current commercial fishermen(American) are a huge part of Louisiana history. They have families relying on them to not be put out of business by a large corporation that only wants to work unauthorized workers.

I have to say that I disagree with the idea of this.

Just my two cents.

[Ray]

Most of the commercial fishermen I know don't have the $$$ to start up something like this.
It will be big business starting it up, paying little to nothing to the undocumented workers cleaning fish. All the money will be going to the business owners, very little to the working man.

[yak'em-n-stack'em]

if this were to take place off of louisiana we would have to work it out to either extend our state waters to 9 miles and put the farms inside those 9 miles, or get sole revenue from it and have only our citizens working in them