Offshore fish harvest
a success

Isle researchers say that the project
could aid Hawaii's economy

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Star-Bulletin staff

Oceanic Institute researchers recently spawned second-generation amberjack (kahala) in captivity and are developing methods to culture the fish for eventual commercialization.

Amberjack is among species under research at Oceanic Institute for development of offshore aquaculture.

The work is being done in the Hawaii Offshore Research Aquaculture Research Project, a collaboration between Oceanic Institute, the University of Hawaii and commercial interests.

The project, which began in 1999, demonstrated commercial harvest of more than 130,000 Pacific threadfin (moi). It also provided environmental and economic information for protection of marine resources, policy decisions and commercial investment in new technology for food fish production.

The project, raising threadfin in an open ocean sea cage, indicated it can be successfully stocked, fed, managed and harvested while submerged, said Anthony Ostrowski, institute finfish program manager and a principal investigator of the research.

Preliminary environmental information obtained on water quality, coral rubble fauna and other factors is being used to design monitoring programs and commercial permit applications.

"Marine fish aquaculture will play a key role in supplying the seafood needs of the United States and the world in the very near future," Ostrowski said, pointing to declining wild stocks of fish and closures of fisheries in some parts of Hawaii and other regions.

The United States in 2000 imported $10.1 billion worth of edible fishery products while U.S. exports of those products were valued at $3 billion, accounting for a trade deficit of more than $7 billion, according to national statistics.

Hawaii's per capita seafood consumption is more than four times the national average.

"Offshore aquaculture offers great economic potential for the state of Hawaii," Ostrowski said, adding that more time is needed for further development and commercial investment in the technology.

The Legislature is considering proposed legislation to extend the termination date for offshore water leasing permits from 2003 to 2009, which Ostrowski said would allow continued commercial expansion of offshore aquaculture.

He said Pacific threadfin was used for the first two phases of the research project because methods needed to mass culture the species in captivity had already been developed at Oceanic Institute.

Now, other species are being studied that exhibit economically and biologically favorable characteristics to sustain a growing industry, he said.