A University of Hawaii professor submitted a stinging critique of the planned expansion of a West Hawaii fish farm.
A University of Hawaii professor submitted a stinging critique of the planned expansion of a West Hawaii fish farm.
Neil Frazer, a geophysics professor at the university’s Manoa campus, laid out several reasons to question Blue Ocean Mariculture’s proposal to increase fish production from about 450 tons to 1,100 tons annually off the Kona coast. The Department of Land and Natural Resources Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands signed off on the project last month, issuing a finding of no significant impact.
The final environmental assessment, which included Frazer’s comments, was released several days ago.
“Production of kahala or moi is harmful to global fish stocks because both species are carnivorous and require amounts of fish oil in their feed such that the fish-to-fish conversion ratio is 3-5:1,” Frazer wrote. “In other words, 3-5 pounds of wild fish must be extracted from the ocean to grow one pound of moi or kahala.”
Frazer said the anchovy and horse mackerel often used to create the fish oil for farmed fish food comes from fish populations that are a primary protein source for people in some Third World countries. His second concern, he said, was the likelihood of the farmed fish spreading parasites, particularly Neobenedenia, to wild kahala.
While Frazer wrapped up his letter with compliments about Blue Ocean Mariculture’s animal husbandry practices, he offered one final critique.
“Moreover, the owners and operators of BOM may be forgiven for failure to understand the effects of parasite spillback,” he wrote. “For obvious reasons, it is not a popular topic in the sea-cage farming industry, and the scientific literature is still contentious on this issue for the same reasons it was once contentious on the effects of lead in paint, asbestos, tobacco, vinyl chloride and arsenic.”
That particular comment didn’t sit well with Blue Ocean Mariculture’s research manager, Jennica Lowell.
“We also have to say that we resent your attempt to associate our farm site with known carcinogens and poisons,” she wrote in a lengthy response to Frazer’s comments. “We believe the government agencies responsible for the evaluation and oversight of Hawaii’s mariculture industry deserve more objective and sound information, particularly when submitted on behalf of a reputable institution such as the University of Hawaii.”
She went on to defend the company’s practices.
“You will be pleased to hear that the capture fisheries used as fish oil sources for our feed are among the most protected and regulated fisheries in the world,” she wrote. “Our feed supplier makes significant use of capture fisheries byproduct, and all of our feed is certified sustainable by the Global G.A.P. and Global Aquaculture Alliance certification systems.”
Further, she said, Peru cannot consume all of the forage fish being caught and converted to fish oil for fish farms.
“The conversion of forage fish into bigger and better-tasting sources of protein such as salmon, kahala and moi is one of the highest and best uses of this resource,” she said.
Lowell also questioned Frazer’s calculations of the possibility of the farmed fish spreading parasites to the wild fish population.
“Your second assertion is that every pound of farmed kahala reduces the global stock of wild fish by 20 pounds is even more dubious,” she wrote. “The assumptions required for your conclusion are simply not realistic. … The reality is that the overwhelming majority of free swimming parasites dies quickly or attaches to the more easily accessible farmed fish.”
Other comments included with the final environmental assessment were more supportive of the project.
Ronald Weidenbach, Hawaii Fish Company co-owner and manager, praised Blue Ocean Mariculture.
“By allowing small mariculture businesses like (Blue Ocean Mariculture) to expand and prosper, we will enhance the food security of our state and nation, provide employment opportunities for people of many different skill sets and increase the diversity of Hawaii’s agriculture industry,” Weidenbach wrote.
Email Erin Miller at emiller@westhawaiitoday.com.