FISH

More Ocean Fish Farms

Coming to Your Island?
Fact Sheet • May 2009

Y et another ocean fish farm is being proposed off of the coast of the Big Island,
Hawaii.
Also called open ocean aquaculture or offshore aquaculture, ocean fish farming is the mass production of fish in huge,
often-overcrowded net pens or cages out in open ocean waters. Indigo Seafood is seeking a lease for 80 acres in the
Kawaihae area to grow Moi. They have not presented the public with the number of cages or the amount of fish that
they intend to produce each year. Indigo Seafood is just another ocean fish farming operation – along with Kona
Blue Water Farms, Cates International, and Hawaii Oceanic Technology, Inc. — looking to test out a new industry in
Hawaii’s waters.

While a single operation may not have an immediately

visible impact on the environment, the cumulative impact
of several farms along the coast could have unforeseen
consequences. Before allowing more operations to de-
velop along our shores, we need to better understand how
these intensive fish farms affect human health, the econo-
mies of local fishing communities, native Hawaiians, wild
fish populations, marine mammals, endangered species,
birds, and essential fish habitat.

Problems with competing/conflicting interest:

Because ocean fish farming facilities take up real space
in the environment, they can cause conflict-of-interest
problems in areas including fishing grounds and routes
to those fishing grounds, vessel traffic lanes, marine
reserves, sanctuaries and other protected or fragile areas,
and areas of significant multiple use. The proposed In-
digo Seafood farm would be located just one mile outside
of a whale sanctuary.
Economic concerns: Most existing farms require large
amounts of funding from the government and/or ven-
ture capitalists to continue operations. The industry has
failed to demonstrate that ocean fish farming is environ-
mentally sustainable, technically possible or financially
viable on a commercial scale. Indigo Seafood will only
directly create 10-15 jobs, but might cause an assortment
of economic problems by competing with local fishermen.
Also, open water fish farming operations elsewhere have
been associated with various ecological problems – water
pollution, fish escapes, and habitat damage to name a
few. The public bears the costs for these, while the private
company reaps the benefits.
Escapes: Ocean fish farming uses cages, net pens, or
other containers to hold fish. The structures, even if well-
designed and well-built, are subject to complications like
severe weather, sharks and other predators, equipment
failure, and human error. Fish escapes can jeopardize
the recovery of depleted or endangered species and lead
to the spread of diseases, breeding with wild populations,
and disruption of natural ecosystems. While Indigo
Seafood plans to use the same genetic stock as wild Moi,
farmed fish can be behaviorally and even physically dif-
ferent than wild fish. They often lack basic instincts, like
mating or protective behaviors to avoid predators, or can
be more aggressive. These changes in behavior can alter
how natural fish act.
Let’s ask detailed questions to learn more about Indigo Seafood’s project and how it
may affect us and our waters.
Sample questions:
• Of all the possible species to raise, why Moi?
• Where is your funding coming from? Is it from the
State/High-Tech/Act 221? Is it federal? From private
investors?
• Is your funding from local or foreign investors, or both?
• What is the long-term marketing plan and financial vi-
ability?
• Who helped prepare your marketing plan?
• What type of cages will you use, and how many?
• How many fish will be kept in each cage? (400,000?)
• What will the visual impact be for Kohala residents and
others?
• What onshore operations, including the hatchery, will
be required, and where?
Feed inefficiency: Farmed fish are often fed wild fish
either directly or after they are processed into fishmeal or
fish oil. These prey fish are a crucial part of the marine
ecosystem, serving as food for marine mammals, birds
and other larger fish. While some of these fisheries are
technically “managed” – a plan exists to monitor their
population, as with menhaden in the Gulf of Mexico –
there is no cap to the amount of fish that can be removed.
Over a billion pounds of menhaden are removed from the
Gulf each year. Soy is a commonly proposed alternative
for feed. However, the impacts of introducing land-based
nutrients, which are not natural food for fish, into the
marine ecosystem have not been well researched. Ocean
fish farms must also be held accountable for the sustain-
ability of what they feed their fish.
Water Pollution: Fish wastes, excess food, fish escapes,
antibiotics, and various chemicals from fish farms can all
result in water pollution and can harm surrounding habi-
tats by poisoning wildlife and causing other disturbances.
Wild fish populations may become dependent on feed-
ing on excess feed from the cages – altering their natural
behaviors and diet.
Trade problems: Ocean fish farming is not likely to
end seafood imports to the United States, nor will it
dramatically change the trade patterns in Hawaii. Cur-
rently, we export about 70 percent of the fish we catch
• What are the management plans for:
- Cage fouling/ cleaning?
- Diseases?
- Marine mammals?
- Sharks?
• How many employees will be hired, and for what kinds
of jobs?
• What percentage of final product will be sold on the Big
Island and in Hawaii vs. Mainland and Japan?
• What is the source and content of the fish food?
• Who will prepare environmental studies?
• What kind of reception have you received, to date, from
local and state officials and agencies?
• Will you be in competition with Kona Blue? Randy
Cates? Others?
• What will you do if rising oil prices increase shipping
costs?
the small quantity of newly farmed fish likely to be kept
in this country and in Hawaii would not offset the vast
amount of fish imported. Most of the fish from ocean fish
farms in Hawaii are currently exported to the mainland
or Japan.
Habitat impacts: Dredging, drilling and other sedi-
ment and bottom-habitat disturbances like large anchors
can cause seagrass and coral die-off, displacement of
ocean wildlife, and other potentially significant ecologi-
cal changes. Cages often act as fish aggregating devices
(FADs), as has been evidenced by Cates International on
Oahu and by Kona Blue Water Farms in Kailua-Kona of
Kohala. This alters the natural behaviors of fish and the
marine ecosystem as a whole near the farms.
The bottom line: Hawaii should not be treated as a
testing ground for industrial fish production – especially
since these facilities comes with many unanswered ques-
tions. What a few individuals stand to gain economically
is minor when compared with what the public could lose
economically, socially and environmentally.
For more information:
web: www.foodandwaterwatch.org
email: info@fwwatch.org
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