Eighty percent of American fish dishes are imported, and the federal government is eager to get the U.S. seafood market on equal footing (finning?) by kicking off industrial-scale fish farming in the Gulf of Mexico. Under regulations to be considered next month, fish born in laboratories would be transported to gigantic underwater cages capable of holding up to 100,000 pounds of sea critters; once at marketable size, the fish would be harvested and taken back to shore for consumption. Commercial fisherfolk have come out against the plan, fearing for their already hurting industry; green groups are also leery, pointing out that the proposed rules contain no specific pollution standards and do not specify where in the gulf the farms would be located. Says Marianne Cufone of green group Food and Water Watch, “They haven’t addressed what it will do to the coastal communities, the environment, or to the fishing industry we already have.” Details, details.
