Well, as time goes bye, the ever more obvious reason for MPA's as a means to eliminate fishing in order to accommodate fish farms becomes more clear.

Only a few years ago protectionist organizations were adamantly against any kind of aquaculture or fish farms. This trend has been reversing on a steady basis.

This is one reason, I personally believe, is why the Moore and Packard Foundations are willing to spend so much money for the MLPAI. There has to be a way for them to recoup their investment. Who else has the money to do large scale farming but corporations.

With the state being in partnership with private entities and their funding, it appears we, as the public, have little to say when it comes to preserving our access to the resources. Actually we can say all we want, but, who is listening.

Anyway, maybe it is just me and my post MLPAI madness. You read it and see what you think.



Fresh from the farm (con)San Diego Union-Tribune February 22, 2009 By George H. Leonard

A commercial-scale aquaculture project five miles off Mission Beach – potential boon to depleted fishing stocks, or added stress on our already-taxed oceans? There are a host of environmental, socioeconomic and liability concerns that must be addressed before our nation's oceans are opened to large-scale fish farming. California residents, like many Americans, continue to eat more and more seafood. It's not surprising: Seafood tastes great and is generally heart healthy.

But after decades of mismanagement of our nation's wild-capture fisheries and fish habitats, much of what we eat is no longer caught in U.S. waters; instead, we import it from overseas and much of that is farmed, a process called aquaculture. Open-ocean aquaculture is the farming of fish in large cages well offshore. While many forms of aquaculture, such as raising shellfish, are environmentally benign, others, such as the farming of salmon, have a proven track record of environmental problems. The proposed open-ocean aquaculture project by Hubbs-SeaWorld is the first major project considered for federal waters. But there are a host of environmental, socioeconomic and liability concerns that must be addressed before our nation's oceans are opened to large-scale fish farming.

Indeed, the respected Pew Oceans Commission, chaired by California's Leon Panetta, and President Barack Obama's pick to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Jane Lubchenco, have called for a coordinated federal framework with strict standards before open-ocean aquaculture proceeds. Californians and all Americans should be concerned with the expansion of this approach.

Vast amounts of small wild fish must be caught to feed the large ocean fish raised for human consumption, adding to the stress on our already-taxed oceans. And the use of open-net pens allows concentrated fish waste and chemicals to flow untreated into the ocean. They also allow farmed fish to escape and interbreed with wild populations and spread disease to wild fish

California has led the nation in developing a precautionary approach to the expansion of open-ocean fish farming in state waters – up to three miles from shore – to avoid some of the significant problems incurred elsewhere. Signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006, California's Sustainable Oceans Act mandates strict standards to ensure that open-ocean fish farming doesn't harm our world-famous coast and ocean. But the Hubbs project would be located not in state territory, but in federal waters – beyond the three-mile limit – making it unclear whether this law will affect such facilities.

Perhaps more important, should the Hubbs project be approved in the absence of national environmental, socioeconomic and liability standards, it could open the door to case-by-case decision-making on the future of fish farming in federal waters throughout the nation. Regardless of the merits or shortcomings of individual aquaculture projects, such a piecemeal approach cannot address the cumulative impacts of industrial-scale fish farming or broader concerns about responsible use of our ocean resources. From oil and gas drilling, to renewable ocean energy, to traditional fishing and now to open-ocean aquaculture, our nation's oceans are under increasing pressure. With a new president and a new Congress, it is time for national ocean leadership. Congress should articulate a long-term vision for the sustainable use of our nation's oceans and rightly debate the role of aquaculture in them. Let's get aquaculture right the first time. If we don't, there may not be a second chance.