Groups consider appeal of court’s fish-farm ruling

Two groups opposed to floating fish farms are considering an appeal of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway that a federal agency was within its authority to grant an ocean aquaculture permit to a private research venture.

Zach Corrigan, senior staff attorney for Food & Water Watch, said allowing "space-age" fish farms in the ocean is outside the authority of the National Marine Fisheries Service to manage fishing catches.

KAHEA is the other group critical of Mollway’s ruling.

Mollway, in her ruling Friday, said the federal law governing the Fisheries Service defines fishing broadly to include harvesting of fish.

Corrigan also criticized Mollway’s dismissal of a request to require the fisheries service to prepare an environmental impact statement before issuing a permit to Kona Blue Water Farms.

Mollway dismissed the request for an EIS, saying the issue was moot because the federal court cannot provide any effective relief since the company completed operations earlier this year.

Kona Blue, now known as Kampachi Farms LLC, raised Seriola Rivoliana, a relative of Hawaiian yellowtail, in a ball-shaped cage submerged 35 feet below the surface. The cage drifted in ocean eddies three to 75 miles off West Hawaii, the company said.

The first fish were put into a 132-cubic-meter cage in July, and the last harvest was in February, the company said.

But the issue appears far from settled.

Kampachi Farms co-founder Neil Sims said his business is applying for a new permit to conduct more research involving the yellowtail relative.

Sims said the aquaculture operation was a success and that Kampachi Farms’ research indicates there has been no measurable impact on the environment.

He said in the most recent aquaculture test, the fish grew twice as fast as expected.

Sims said fishing people have liked the presence of the floating farm because it serves as an aggregating device and attracts fish to it.

"You try something to improve it (the industry). … These obstructionists groups don’t want us to even try," he said.

The lawyer for the fisheries service could not be reached for comment.