A fish farm is being proposed off Ocean Beach. Okay, it’s not directly off OB but 4 miles out (see map). The research institute connected with SeaWorld, Hubbs, and a corporation from Long Beach have proposed the first open-ocean fish farm in federal waters off the southern California coast.
Hubbs Research Institute and Pacific6 Enterprise want to build the Pacific Ocean AquaFarm and earlier in September, they submitted a federal permit application for the project.
The proposed farm would be about 4 miles offshore and west of San Diego’s beaches. Hubbs and Pacific6 claim it would generate 5,000 metric tons of sushi-grade yellowfish annually and create about 75 jobs. From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will next lead the environmental review of the proposal, which could take up to two years, Hubbs-SeaWorld President Don Kent said, adding that construction and market-ready product could add a few more years to the timeline.
“We’re talking about five years before people are enjoying farmed yellowtail off the coast of California,” Kent said. The project would also need to be vetted by half a dozen state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he said. …
Hubbs-Seaworld already operates a hatchery in Carlsbad, and there are farms that raise oysters and abalone in Southern California. But there are no other aquaculture projects in U.S. federal waters, defined as three to 230 miles (370 kilometers) offshore. …
The project came as the federal government announced the creation of 10 planned aquaculture opportunity areas throughout the country, with the first in Southern California and Baja. The program will be overseen by NOAA and comes under an executive order signed by President Trump in May.
Environmental groups have opposed previous offshore aquaculture operations, arguing that they pose risks to marine life such as whales, dolphins and sharks, can foul the water, and undermine wild fisheries. There are a few more details in Sunday’s article from the U-T.
Here is a short news item we published exactly 5 years ago, mid-Sept 2015, about a fish-farm:
Largest Fish Farm in America Planned Off OB and Mission Beach
The Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, a research nonprofit partially funded by SeaWorld, is partnering with a private investment firm to create the largest fish farm in America. The proposed Rose Canyon Fisheries aquaculture project would be built 4 miles off San Diego’s coast – just east of Mission Beach and Ocean Beach. It could have a footprint on the ocean floor that’s slightly smaller than Balboa Park, and could produce 11 million pounds of yellowtail and sea bass each year. KPBS
Editor Dude, hi. Uh, what’s the deal here? Same group? Patient folk. If this farm will be in the Pacific Ocean, it will have to be WEST of Mission and Ocean Beaches. Eh?
It’s the same Hubbs but a different corporate partner.
Opposition swells to idea, as per La Jolla Light https://www.lajollalight.com/news/story/2020-09-24/plenty-of-fish-in-the-sea-local-fishermen-oppose-proposed-new-fish-farm