[Institute for Fisheries Resources | Fishlink Archive]
On 12 October California Governor Gray Davis signed SB 245 to ban aquaculture of salmon, exotic (non-native) and transgenic (genetically-engineered) fish in state waters, including the ocean from 0-3 miles offshore. The ban does not apply to contained systems onshore; however, such operations would still be subject to state permits. The bill, by State Senator Byron Sher (D-Palo Alto), co-authored by Assemblywoman Patty Berg (D-Eureka), passed the California Legislature on 27 August. Davis had until this past weekend to act on the bill - signing it or vetoing it - or it would have automatically become law (see Sublegals, 8:09/01).
"This is good news for the fishing fleet and the environment," said PCFFA Executive Director Zeke Grader after Davis signed SB 245. In addition to PCFFA, the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), the Ocean Conservancy, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the California Aquaculture Association all supported the bill. Former IFR staff Natasha Benjamin worked extensively on the bill, pushing for its passage. SB 245 was opposed by the California Fisheries & Seafood Institute and Aqua Bounty, which is seeking to sell genetically-modified Atlantic salmon broodstock to fish farms. The same Sacramento lobbyist represented the Seafood Institute and Aqua Bounty. BIOCOM, a consortium of biotech companies, also weighed in opposing the bill when it reached the Governor, as did a Washington State Senator, who is a private salmon grower in Puget Sound.
The legislation was in response to proposals by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to begin promoting ocean aquaculture and the problems that have arisen in other parts of the world, particularly British Columbia, with net pen finfish aquaculture operations in ocean waters. Beside being a source of pollution - they've been called oceanic feed lots - ocean aquaculture operations can spread disease into the wild. In British Columbia, the deadly infestation of sea lice on native pink salmon is believed to have come from salmon farms. Moreover, fish escape with alarming frequency from net pens. There is concern that they may prey on native stocks or compete for habitat. Atlantic salmon that have escaped net pens are now found in numerous British Columbia rivers and have successfully spawned and produced progeny in these Pacific Coast streams. Escaped farmed Atlantics have also been found in streams in Alaska and Washington State. California has spent millions, to date, wrestling with the problem of non-native Northern pike that have found their way into Lake Davis and that could threaten salmon and other native fish in the Delta if these pike escape the lake. More than a decade ago, the state nearly had the same problem with white bass. Open water aquaculture of exotic fish, it is felt, would simply exacerbate the problem of trying to prevent the introduction into the wild of non-native fish that threaten native fish species.
Aqua Bounty's application pending before the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of its fast growing transgenic salmon for aquaculture operations was also a big reason for the bill. The fact that FDA is not going to do extensive testing to determine the impacts on the environment (including native stocks) if these fish (dubbed "Frankenfish") escape, never mind the human health affects, before approving these genetically modified fish was seen as a compelling reason for the state to adopt its own precautionary approach (see Sublegals, 8:05/04; 7:26/08; 7:20/02; 7:07/08; 7:04/01; 6:10/03; 6:08/01; 5:09/02; 5:01/05; 4:16/13; 4:11/10; 3:32/14; 3:19/03; 3:07/15; 3:05/15; 2:16/11).
"SB 245 is good public policy so California won't have to waste time considering projects that pollute or endanger native fish," said the Ocean Conservancy's Karen Reyna, who worked with Benjamin for passage of the bill. Senator Sher, whose district includes a portion of the north-central California coast, chairs the California Senate's Environmental Quality Committee. Assemblywoman Berg chairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture. Her district includes most of California's north coast from Bodega Bay to the Oregon border. For a copy of the enrolled bill, go to the California Legislature archive at: http://www.sen.ca.gov.
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