Citing concerns about disease, pollution and economic effects on the Gulf's commercial fisheries, a standing-room-only crowd packed into a small conference room at the Airport Hilton in Kenner to deliver nearly two hours' worth of complaints about the proposal from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
"We have the finest fishery in the United States and perhaps the world, but we are being asked to approve an industry that is fraught with potential damages," said Charlie Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Charter Boat Association. "They risk money. We risk a way of life that has been a blessing to all of us who love our waters and our fish."
Federal regulators are holding a series of public hearings across the Gulf coast this month on the offshore aquaculture proposal, which could give companies 10-year permits to build industrial-scale fish farms in the open ocean.
The Gulf council will consider the plan at a meeting in late January. The offshore aquaculture industry is mostly untested in the United States, after Congress has failed to vote on the measure twice in the past three years.
Industry proponents say the fish farms could break America's dependence on imported seafood, but many critics point to the environmental hazards of such cages in the open Gulf.
The issue has united the odd bedfellows of fishermen and environmentalists, two groups that have historically clashed over regulations on catching wild fish and shrimp in the Gulf.
Wearing blue buttons reading "OOA - Not Today!," an acronym for open ocean aquaculture, many of the speakers at Tuesday's hearing pointed out deficiencies in the Gulf council's proposal. They say it fails to explore the environmental drawbacks and completely ignores social impacts in fishing communities.
"I want to see a map of where you're trying to approve these things," said Aaron Viles, campaign director for the Gulf Restoration Network. "We're putting the cart before the horse here to say we're going to allow this without saying where they will be."
Many of the fishers who spoke said the Gulf council should instead focus on ways to improve the health of wild fish stocks in the Gulf.
"There's too much being done to prevent the business that's already here," said Pete Gerica, who represents shrimpers in Lake Pontchartrain. "Let us do the job. I don't care about all these people who want to make all these investments and make a profit."
With the constant threat of hurricanes in the Gulf, many at the meeting pointed to the hazards posed by escaped fish and downed nets during a storm.
"The idea that these fish farms are going to be hurricane-proof is a laughing matter," said Margaret Curole of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. "As we all know there is nothing that is hurricane-proof."
Harlon Pearce, a Kenner seafood dealer and the lone representative of the Gulf council at the hearing, said afterward that he understands the environmental concerns but wished the groups would come up with their own proposals.
"You've got to sit at the table and try to solve these problems from within," Pearce said.
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Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3786.