A company trying to grow in cages fish that are being pillaged to near commercial extinction in the Pacific received Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) approval from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on October 24.<\/p>\n
In a 4-1 vote, the Land Board brought Hawai`i Ocean Technology, Inc. (HOT) one step closer to achieving its plans to grow several thousand pounds of yellowfin and bigeye tuna (a.k.a. ahi) in 12 giant, deep-water \u201coceanspheres\u201d off the Big Island\u2019s North Kohala coast.<\/p>\n
Concerned that the untethered cages \u2013 which will be held in place, HOT says, with thrusters powered by ocean thermal energy conversion \u2013 have never been tested, the Land Board limited HOT to three cages; any more would require seeking further approval from the Land Board. (According to HOT representatives, three cages is the minimum number needed to be profitable.)<\/p>\n
HOT must also get an effluent discharge permit from the state Department of Health, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 10 permit, and an ocean lease from the Land Board before it can install the cages. It may also have to contend with contested- case hearing requests from Kale Gumapac of the Kanaka Council and O`ahu\u2019s Michael Kumukauoha Lee, both of whom claim that the project will impact native Hawaiian rights and traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unacceptable,\u201d Gumapac said after the vote. Whether the Land Board will grant Lee and Gumapac a contested-case hearing remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Should the project proceed as planned, HOT\u2019s tuna farm will cover 247 acres of ocean west of Malae Point. Twelve oceanspheres, each 165 feet in diameter, will be spread throughout the area and be submerged 65 feet below the ocean surface.<\/p>\n
The company, founded in July 2006, plans to install one cage next year, two more in 2011, four more in 2012, and the last five in 2013.<\/p>\n
At University of Hawi`i at Hilo\u2019s Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center, HOT plans to grow tuna fingerlings from eggs collected from two to six captured broodstock or from wild tuna. HOT expects to produce 1,000 tons of ahi by 2011, 3,000 by 2012, and 6,000 by 2013, according to a report to the Land Board by the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands. Most of the production is intended to be exported, according to HOT\u2019s business plan.<\/p>\n
At the Land Board\u2019s meeting, OCCL administrator Sam Lemmo admitted that the project was \u201ca little bit science-fiction\u201d in that raising ahi from eggs has never been done commercially and the OTEC-powered cage engine is an unproven technology. Lemmo also said the project\u2019s environmental impact statement identified a number of unresolved issues, including the source and makeup of the project\u2019s feed, and a lack of benthic information and a marine mammal plan.<\/p>\n
With regard to concerns raised by the public during the environmental impact statement review and CDUP process about diseased fish infecting wild populations, Lemmo said it\u2019s difficult to mitigate an epidemic before it happens. \u201cIf there\u2019s a huge disease outbreak, then we can jump on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Regarding the project as a whole, Lemmo recommended board approval on the condition that HOT complete benthic surveys and a marine mammal plan before cage installation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never really know the absolute truth [about impacts]\u2026There will always be an amount of risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to HOT CEO Bill Spencer, there are no risks involved in the project. When asked by O`ahu board member John Morgan what the project\u2019s worst-case scenario might be, Spencer said, \u201cWe don\u2019t see a worst-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that the state\u2019s two open-ocean aquaculture operations \u2013 Kona Blue Water Farms, LLC, and Grove Farm Fish & Poi, LLC (originally Cates International, Inc.) \u2013 haven\u2019t had had any disease and seem to have had minimal to no impact on the benthic habitat.<\/p>\n
The sea floor is 1,300 feet below his proposed project, he said, much deeper than the sea floor below the two other farms. He added that the state Department of Health\u2019s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit will address water quality and that the ocean currents will ensure that effluent from the cages will never reach deeper than 500 feet.<\/p>\n
Local oceanographer and HOT consultant Ricky Grigg added that he had surveyed the sea floor around the project area decades ago while looking for coral and \u201cdidn\u2019t find very much\u201d marine life. The bottom was mostly flat sand with a few rocky outcrops, he said.<\/p>\n
Spencer said that his cages will be so large that the stocking density and flushing issues that have led to disease in fish farms elsewhere will not be a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cHawai`i is known throughout the world as the Silicon Valley of aquaculture\u201d and open ocean aquaculture is \u201cour best new source of protein,\u201d Spencer told the board. He added that meeting the world\u2019s demand for fish is a more pressing problem than global warming.<\/p>\n
Opposition<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
To several members of the public who testified against the project, the global need for fish was not Hawai`i\u2019s concern. A handful of native Hawaiians who flew to O`ahu from the Big Island to testify described how Hawaiians fed hundreds of thousands of people for generations with their fishponds, many of which are unused today and have fallen into disrepair. Lee shared once-secret protocols his family used to prevent disease in fishponds they once tended.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis,\u201d he said of HOT\u2019s proposal, \u201cis a science fair project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gumapac added, \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to listen to these gentlemen when they haven\u2019t come to seek our advice or counsel and they say they\u2019re going to experiment in your water. Our kupuna did it in an environmentally sound way [incorporating a variety of animals into the ponds to prevent theft, control disease and fertilize the water]\u2026Whose techniques should we be using?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gumapac and others also argued that the cages would affect Hawaiian gathering rights.<\/p>\n
While HOT attorney William Tam assured the Land Board that the permit would exclude only other projects from the area and would not affect boats, access by the public or fishing, OCCL\u2019s report to the board states, \u201cHOT notes for safety all fishermen and boaters be kept 100 feet from each of the twelve oceanspheres\u2019 buoy. Fishermen will be allowed to fish around the oceanspheres but not directly above or below them. No swimming or SCUBA diving would be allowed in the 247 acre ocean project site\/lease area.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Two other testifiers \u2013 Solei Niheu and Donna Burns \u2013 expressed their discomfort with the presence of an armed Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officer, who had entered the board room after some heated testimony. Burns called it a \u201cracist act\u201d and stormed out after Kaua`i board member Ron Agor asked her if she was going to speak to the proposal or leave.)<\/p>\n
Rob Parsons of the Sierra Club \u2013 Maui Group raised several concerns relating to the size of the project in his written testimony.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a farm,\u201d he told the board. \u201cThis is an industrial feedlot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since one percent of the fish from all the cages was expected to die before harvesting, Parsons asked what percentage of those fish would be tested for disease and how the \u201cmorts\u201d (as many as 2,400 at full capacity) would be disposed of.<\/p>\n
He added that HOT has been vague about its expected yields \u201cby a factor of 100 percent! They contradict earlier statements of 6,000 tons yearly projection by stating that production will vary between 6,000 or 12,000 tons, \u2018depending on the final system design.\u2019 That is an incredible amount of uncertainty and wiggle room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parsons also noted that the harvesting of millions of tons of baitfish (sardines, herring, anchovies, menhaden, krill) to make fish food impacts ecosystems throughout the world and robs wild fish of food sources.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, aquaculture operators are continually seeking substitutes to feed their caged stock. Kona Blue (which raises kahala) has substituted soy protein and chicken trimmings to offset the percentages of fish meal and fish oil. Top level piscatavors (fish eaters) like ahi are not expected to have the same growth characteristics as wild fish if they are fed land-based proteins. HOT acknowledges they, \u2018have not identified the best diet yet,\u2019 \u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
HOT has not selected a fish food vendor and has said only that it has no plans to use GMO soy and will seek local alternatives, Parsons said.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsidering they are projecting the need for 12,000,000 pounds of feed annually, this language is incredibly vague. There must be full disclosure and understanding of the components of the fish feed, the sources from which they are derived, and the impacts from withdrawing them and importing those resources to Hawai`i. Note that 100 percent of the feed would be imported,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Finally, Parsons suggested that there might be greater merit and more potential for sustainability in reviving Hawaiian fishponds, \u201cor in pursuing land-based re-circulating aquaculture and aquaponics systems that utilize nutrient-rich fish waste to grow vegetables.\u201d<\/p>\n
Randy Cates, whose company was the first commercial open-ocean aquaculture operation in the state, testified neither for nor against HOT\u2019s proposal, but did say he was bothered by any application focused on exporting fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe export 50 percent of our wild caught fish and import 90 percent of the fish [we consume]\u2026We should be focused on creating jobs in Hawai`i and feeding Hawai`i,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Setting a Cap<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
For Cates, it came down to one thing: Is the technology safe? He did not have an answer to that question, but asked the board to consider that before voting.<\/p>\n
O`ahu board member John Morgan said he felt the technology would prove itself as the process moved along. While at-large member Samuel Gon was a bit more cautious about giving the green light to an unproven technology, \u201con the other hand, there are always the painful first steps and that involves a lot of talking to people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lemmo\u2019s original recommendation to the board was to approve a CDUP for all 12 spheres, but require the Land Board chair\u2019s approval for all but the first two. Given the concerns about the experimental cages, however, all of the board members wanted the authority to approve additional cages to rest with the entire board. While some board members wanted to allow HOT only one cage, in the end, the board gave HOT the ability to install three cages before seeking permission for the rest. Gon was the only board member to oppose the CDUP.<\/p>\n
Regarding the concerns raised by the public, at-large member David Goode noted that the project\u2019s final EIS, accepted months ago, was not contested. \u201cThere was a whole lot of opportunity to comment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ocean lease amendments<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
At the same meeting, the Land Board was scheduled to vote on a proposal that would allow the DLNR\u2019s Land Division to be paid for managing the two existing ocean leases on behalf of the state\u2019s Aquaculture Development Program (ADP). However, Land Division administrator Morris Atta withdrew the item because he said the Department of the Attorney General had issues with some of the language in a proposed agreement between the DLNR and the ADP, which is a program of the state Department of Agriculture. Under the proposal, the DLNR would reap a 25 percent management fee from the rent of both leases. Currently, that would total of $875 a year, but that amount would likely grow. In addition to three proposals for fish farms off Maui and the Big Island, Randy Cates, who operates Grove Farm Fish & Poi, told the board that his company, located in waters off `Ewa, O`ahu, plans to expand.<\/p>\n
The Land Board approved a Memorandum of Agreement between DLNR\u2019s Division of Forstry and Wildlife and the non-profit `Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi. The agreement will help both entities apply their resources to related projects in and around Kawainui Marsh in windward O`ahu. `Ahahui already has a curatorship agreement with the DLNR to care for Ulupo Heiau and Na Pohaku O Hauwahine, two historical sites located at opposite ends of the marsh.<\/p>\n
— Teresa Dawson<\/p>\n
Volume 20, Number 6 December 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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