Sea Cages Face Flak

[Big_Kev]

Story from the Wynnum Herald today states that opponents to the development of sea cage fish farming in Moreton bay are preparing to flood the Queensland and Federal governments with objections . Following an enviromental impact study that shows that the release of nutrients and organic waste from this farming venture would interfere with seagrasses,being a primary food source for many marine animals .
Well hello I could have told the government that .
Mr Beattie must think we are idiots and will give up in time .(sorry Peter it meens to much to us )
It is good to see that the Bribane City Council has run adds discrediting this proposed venture .
Cr peter Cummins from Wynnum /Manly is among those against the proposal .
And suggests that Fish farms around the world have spread dissease and lice outbreaks ,and that algal blooms (Lyngbya) is linked to Nitrogen increase .
The EIS is due to be released in late January , and a frustrated community beleives that it has been stalled by proponents until the school holidays when many are away .
Any inquiries contact the Qld Conservation Council on 32210188 .
A save the bay event will be held at Suttons beach Redcliffe on Sunday 9 feb from 10 - 2 . bbq lunch provided .

[Vern_Veitch]

Cr Cummins is 100% correct. Sea cages sometimes take up to a decade or longer to show their impacts and many in overseas countries were claiming their sustainability. Almost without exception, they eventually cause problems. There are other issues. These things will be smack in the middle of some important fishing grounds. They are likely to atract big predators - so who's for a swim on the inside of the island with a big pointer or tiger likely to be taking up residence.
Like any animal including humans, if you put a lot of them in a small area it causes problems and not just at the site.
Vern

[jaybee]

has the eis been released publicly yet it was due in december, i have been following this with keen interest, whoops sorry kev just saw where you put january, so if the feds say yes which side of the fence with the state stand..i beleive the money side stuff the damage we will look at that later.
cheers.

[kc]

I'm a bit ignorant on the subject so maybe one of you guys can explain it for me. Lets say for argument sake (pulling a figure totally out of the air) that the total biomass of fish in the bay 50 years ago was 1 million tonnes and with our impact it is now about 30% of that amount. You put in an aquaculture industry which brings the biomass back up to say 50% of what was the natural levels. The waste would still be only 50% of what used to be created naturally, albiet into a much more intensified area but the nutriet levels spread out across the area of the bay would be way less than what was naturally produced years ago.

Also the fact is that no matter what,demand for seafood is going to continue to grow, driven a lot by export markets and our wild stocks will continue to be decimated unless there is an alternative. Is it better to sacrifice some areas for a greater good, by allowing the damage caused by aqauculture and at the same time legislating for reductions in wild harvest? It seems we sacrafice wetlands for housing developments, golf courses and marinas all the time and in the grand scheme of things how much damage would fish farms actually do compared with other impacts? I have no opinion because I have no facts but would love some feedback from those who do.

Regards

KC

[Big_Kev]

kc its seems that for a man with no oppinion you do have a lot to say . And that is a good thing don't get me wrong .
As I see it the facts would be that ;
The release of nutrients and organic waste would interfere with sea grasses .
Sea cage fish farming does spread disease .
Sea cage fish farms do suffer from lice outbreaks .
Algal blooms such as Lyngbya are linked to nitrgen increase .
All of which are treated with chemicals delivered straight into the water.
It is my fear that a sea cage fish farm on this scale will have a devastating effect upon the bay,and that if let in the door will only grow larger in time.
I do agree with the fact that the market for seafood can only get greater,and that business will look for a solution to fill this market .
However it is my oppinion that the bay is suffering enough from the effects of the city around it and to say no to this venture is the time now .
And yes as long as it is not in my back yard .(got in first there kerry lol)
Regards Reel Hard

[dencor11]

How r u all going,
KC just a note, I live down at Newcastle and we have had a snapper farm at Port Stephans for some time, This pen is about 4/5 k's from the nearest headland and situated close and I mean within say a 1klm radius of a reef we used to fish consistantly for our squire and snapper as well as the usual jew trag and the like wise. The Love Hole as we called it (dont know why) This place was a last resort on the way home and 95% of the time we'd get a feed, we have fished this reef now for the last 10/15 outings from the port and ZIP!!!.
Now dont get me wrong I cant say This is the only reason the fish have gone, but its a bit suss..........
About 2 years ago we had a shocking storm down here and the "sustainable fishing pen" was tipped and turned for most of a 48 hour period.
The pen lost approx 12 to 14000 pan size squire. Now everyone knows the Port area is a great spot and many years ago snapper heaven but to release another 14000 fish into a already pressured habitat area, well the wild snapper what they going to eat?????? Not to mention all the other species.
Now in the paper the other day I read a story on a guy from the BUSH
using his dam pools to harvest bream????? Now I know not every farmer is going to have the salinity levels this guy had but the seafood industry makes a shit load of money every year and instead of wrecking the ocean maybe they should look into aqua culture further a field.....like inland.....The farmer said that the fish grew well and a waste system he had developed actually helped the rest of his farming for fertiliser and the such.....so maybe the fish farmers can look around and look for alternatives........I might get off the soap box anyways.......But i guess the moral of this bitch is that there is always another way even thouygh it may cost a little more .....but they are charging a little more for our bought seafood these days anyways....

[Kerry]

KC, fifty years ago it was the fishes choice of where was good and where was bad #depending on the conditions.

They weren't concentrated and being fed the type of hormone pollution feeding cage farmers want to feed stock, to fast track growth (and production $$'s).

Disease, I big hell of a problem especially for the wild population from escaped fish and there's no one on in their right mind who could/would guarantee no fish will ever escape.

Cheers, Kerry.

[jaybee]

kc it takes 3 tonne of wild fish for a return of 1 tonne of farmed salmon, so where are our wild stocks going to be in the future for the sake of a couple of tonne of farmed fish? have a read of this, hope this helps
The Five Fundamental Flaws of sea cage fish farming

[kc]

Thanks Jaybee,

Interesting reading and helps me be better informed.

#@$! if I know what the answer is but something has got to happen to reduce demand on wild stocks.

One of the unknowns with prawn trawler bycatch levels is the "grow out" amount of the fingerlings killed.

The 7:1 bycatch to prawn ratio is one thing but given the little fish killed in trawlers have passed the very high mortality "fry" stage and are now "fingerlings" I wonder what the real bycatch to prawn ratio is potentially. Maybe more like 200:1

Prawn trawling is the single most destructive of all commercial fisheries and it appears aquaculture offers the only hope because the world is not going to stop eating prawns.

Thanks again

KC

[argonautical]

Jaybee,

Just read the article you referred to. Seems like its a "mad cow" disease thing just waiting to happen.

Can you tell me if there is much sea cage farming in Australia and if so what species - so I'll know what to avoid.

Argo

[jaybee]

hi argo i beleive we have tuna cages off tazzie and newcastle in the open ocean and from what i hear of the damage they have done to surrounding reef and wild stock its not pretty. brian66 (tazzie) said that when he is near them again (diving) he will post some pics on the site for me. a lot of the countries that started farming in the first place are now winding down, apparantly also the anti biotics etc they give the fish has an effect on us humans, don't quote me as i cant find where i read it waaaaaaaaaaaa. just starting to wonder now if this is why so many pilchards may be dying from diseases they cant pin point or dont want to, just a thought. have some other sites if you are interested where you can have a read and do an electronic objection if you are interested.
cheers

[Vern_Veitch]

THe media reported some time ago that the WA Pilchard Fishers were taking legal action against the SA tuna aquaculture farmers for introducing the disease that killed the pilchards in imported bait. Do not know where it has gone since as there have been no more reports.
Vern

[bugman]

Tassie, in particular the West Coast and Strahan, is littered with Atlantic Salmon and Ocean Trout cages. The local fish population is basically these species now. The local cod, mackeral, salmon are very hard to find. The introduced species have pretty well taken over.
Alright if you want to catch a salmon but what about the local natural stocks
Bugman

[argonautical]

Jaybee,

Interested to know more and would certainly lodge an online objection.

Argo

[blackwater]

If anyone really wants to see the damage that these cages cause have a look for some info on the experiences with salmon farming along the coast of britain and europe. I read quite a few of the english fishing mags and other than disease and sea lice there are a whole range of problems associated with farm cages such as the genetic integrity being destroyed by farm escapees and destruction of the ocean bed in wide areas from the effluent settling and smothering all the other forms of life. Hopefully we will never have this happen here.