Monday December 9, 2024
Santa Barbara Independent —
The Santa Barbara Channel is prime real estate for new fish farms. But it may mean negative consequences for their underwater neighbors.
Right now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is looking for public input on potential new sites for different types of fish farming, or aquaculture, nationwide. Eight of those potential sites — called Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) — are in the channel, ranging in size from 500 to 2,000 acres.
These proposed AOAs led to protests last year, with Santa Barbara–based environmentalists fearing the polluting, destructive effects of finfish farming (think farm-raised salmon, which must be dyed pink to look like those in the wild, and which are more prone to sores, disease, and disfiguration).
Finfish farms can harm both the farmed fish themselves and surrounding marine life — they pose a major risk to native fish populations, create underwater “dead zones” deprived of oxygen, and entangle marine mammals, according to Katie Davis, chair of the Santa Barbara-Ventura Sierra Club.