Valuing wild-caught fish will help protect them

By Sena Wheeler and Sam Cowles / For The Herald

Washington is no stranger to fish farms.

We’ve seen corporations hide the destructive impacts from the escape of fish from net pens in our waters, and the effects on our coastal communities. And it was a relief when our state waters became protected from industrial aquaculture this November. However, the federal waters that lie just 3 miles offshore are still vulnerable to corporate control, devastating pollution and negative impacts to Washington’s commercial fishing industry.

The Trump administration’s Executive Order No. 13921 provided the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the authority to create Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in federal waters throughout the United States. Simply put, the order gave NOAA the ability to carve up our ocean into prime sites for industrial-scale fish farms. While the current sites are in the Gulf of Mexico and Southern California, the executive order dictates that every four years new aquaculture areas must be identified, leaving Washington’s federal waters at risk.

Last year, more than 175 fishing associations, food groups, environmental organizations and coastal businesses delivered an open letter to the White House, urging President Biden to revoke the Trump-era executive order. The letter represented nearly 9 million people, including many fishers from Washington state. They must have their voices heard and businesses protected by revoking this executive order.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-valuing-wild-caught-fish-will-help-protect-them/