Offshore finfish farming operations can have “minimal impacts to the surrounding waters”, according to the results of a new study.
The conclusion follows the investigation into the waters from Open Blue’s cobia production site off the coast of Panama, by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
The researchers collected water samples at one upstream and three downstream locations from the submerged fish cages to investigate if there were significant or cumulative impacts resulting from locating fish farms offshore. Sediment samples were also collected to evaluate the effects of the aquaculture facility on the seafloor.
The data revealed that only small amounts of nutrients are released from the farm and demonstrated that – when appropriately sited – “commercial scale offshore aquaculture installations have the potential to operate in a way that produces a relatively small pollution footprint. The results also showed that any impacts from offshore fish farming are minimal compared to all other forms of animal protein production for human consumption.”…