Tour offered
of ocean farm
While most Hawaii aquaculture is land-based, the state's only operating open-ocean farm will be featured during next month's World Aquaculture Society meeting.
An Atlantis Submarines vessel is being used to give a tour of Cates International's moi cages, anchored about two miles off shore about 40 feet below the surface.
Cates is getting ready to launch its fourth and final moi cage, and may even do so during the conference, said Vice President Virginia Enos.
The new cage means moi production will increase by 2,000 pounds from the 6,000 pounds per week already being grown.
Local demand for moi has been strong, helped by support from local chefs, Enos said.
"The biggest thing in our favor has been local chefs. They see it as something new to showcase that no one else has. It's something new for Hawaii when so many of our local fish have been fished out," she said.
Cates is looking at other types of fish to farm, such as Kahala or Amberjack. It also would like to open a finfish hatchery to raise fingerlings to supplement the supply it receives from the Oceanic Institute.
But the main challenge for Cates will be to successfully secure a land lease from the state for the hatchery.
"We'd like to get as close as possible to our operation. So far we've been unsuccessful in that attempt due to zoning restrictions on prime harbor industrial land," she said.
Still, Enos said she's pleased with how far the company has come in such a short time.
"We were fortunate," she said. "We started out small. We weren't top heavy so I think we've been a good example for the rest of the country. We are paying all our bills and we're supplying our own state with our own product. The bottom line is we couldn't be more pleased with the successes we've had in the short run."
Aquaculture has not been without controversy, even though its history in Hawaii dates back to ancient fish ponds.
Environmental groups have raised questions about the concentration of waste products and the potential effects of farm-raised fish escaping into the wild.
But state law changed in 1999 to allow offshore ocean leases, and the Cates cages sit about two miles off shore in state marine waters. There are two other companies with authorized leases, and four more working toward getting permits, said John Corbin, who heads the state's Aquaculture Development Program.
Federal regulations now making their way through Congress may increase the opportunity to develop fish farms. The law would govern what happens in the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone -- between three miles and 200 miles off-shore.
The U.S. government has signaled that it wants to expand fish farming in the United States fivefold by 2025 to reduce the nation's dependence on imported seafood. While fish farming has expanded around the world by about 10 percent a year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, growth in the U.S. has been only 2 percent a year. It is well behind countries such as Norway that have a mature industry and rules and regulations in place, Corbin said.
"There is no leasing framework for the U.S. EEZ. Hence, if aquaculture is to be done there, we need that," he said.
Corbin said he has a goal of 10 open-ocean farms for Hawaii within the next 10 years.
So far, Hawaii's aquaculture farmers have done a good job, Corbin said.
The state also is in the forefront of aquaculture research, consulting and training.
"Our consultants are working all over the world," he said.
The University of Hawaii is working toward developing master's and a doctorate programs in aquaculture, thereby opening up a wider range of possibilities for those who want to work in the industry.
But before deep-water, open-ocean aquaculture becomes a reality in Hawaii, there are technological challenges to overcome, Corbin said.
"We need next-generation technology to grow fish in cages that are floating and independent of depth," he said.
That day may come sooner, rather than later. Research on large-scale floating platform for open-ocean aquaculture already is taking place at the University of Hawaii, Corbin said.
