FROM THE CROWE'S NEST

History Is A Nightmare

Jill Fallon, president of the Aquaculture Coalition, in calling for a system of leasing the open ocean for offshore aquaculture purposes and her reference which seems to compare fishermen to native Americans in regards to their removal should be considered as a terrorist act and she should be incarcerated by homeland security. The fact that we would even consider leasing U. S. waters to foreign entities is a slap in the face to fishermen everywhere. Why don’t we just get rid of the 200 mile EEZ and bring back the foreign factory ships that decimated the fisheries to start with.

Haven’t we learned anything from the horrific failures of the inshore aquaculture industry over the past thirty years? Take a look at their track record. They are still dealing with pollution problems, disease problems, and escapee problems and of course last but not least the problem of interbreeding with wild stocks which can forever change the natural makeup of wild stocks.

If they cannot protect wild stocks and the environment in shallow well protected areas how can they claim to be able to do that in some of most dangerous natural conditions on the planet. What are these people smoking?

They speak of economic gains, just look at the supposed economic gains of the present inshore aquaculture operations. They are going belly up and that’s with federal economic relief after they requested to be considered as farmers so that they could be eligible for federal subsidies. If they don’t have the answers after thirty years of experience what makes them think that moving offshore will be the answer. The jobs weren’t created and the environmental safeguards are complete failures. Their business plan is just not based on reality. It’s based on the theory of out of sight out of mind. The present unsolved problems that exist with inshore aquaculture will only be magnified a hundredfold.

As far as the New England Fisheries Management Council is concerned, this should be a very large blip on their radar. There will be no NEFMC if the aquaculture industry is allowed to bypass Magnuson Stevens. This entire concept is a grab for power and control of what has been an open and democratic way of life. They would like nothing better than to remove the hunter-gatherer concept and make it a government assisted living program. An exemption from Magnuson will eliminate safeguards, observation and criticism.
   
Another major stumbling block is what are we going to feed these fish. The current practice of feeding herring to farmed salmon is already taking its toll on one of few healthy fisheries left. The NEFMC is already experiencing an allocation nightmare with herring. Any more allocation requests could easily jeopardize the lobster industry and the tuna industry. Do we want to further jeopardize those wild fisheries for the sake of a few multi-national corporations that don’t give a damn about anyone else?

It’s not about feeding the world; it’s about lining a few people’s pockets. Let us not ignore history. James Joyce is quoted from Ulysses as saying, “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”