No to Industrial Aquaculture, Yes to Fishing Communities!

email advocacy

Dear [Your Elected Official],

I am writing to you in support of H.R.9226, the Domestic Seafood Production (DSPA) Act. This bill is an important piece of legislation that will prevent any federal agency from establishing industrial aquaculture facilities in our federal waters, while also providing funding to support the coastal communities who need it most. H.R.9226 was introduced by Representative Mary Peltola (D-AK) and co-sponsored by Representative Troy Carter (D-LA). 
DSPA will help working waterfronts make critical improvements to processing infrastructure and capacity, whether that be making upgrades to ice facilities, enhancing ports, or providing small business initiatives. Processing is often a bottleneck for keeping seafood supply chains localized and transparent. By providing support to coastal communities with a demonstrated need, DSPA will allow hard-working food producers to provide more healthy seafood to local, regional, and domestic markets. 
In addition to supporting fishing communities and strengthening coastal economies, DSPA safeguards our oceans by placing checks on the development of offshore finfish farming. Industrial offshore aquaculture of carnivorous finfish poses threats to our oceans, consumer health, and small- and medium-scale commercial fishermen. Ocean-based fish farms have been shown to contaminate surrounding waters with antibiotics, excess feed, and untreated waste. The high density of fish in these operations also promotes the rapid spread of pests and diseases, with the potential to infect wild fish populations. These floating industrial farms are also prone to escapements when the cages break open or detach. In some cases, thousands of farmed fish are released into the ecosystem, where they can spread disease, compete for food, and crossbreed with wild fish populations. Marine fish farms have also been shown to threaten marine mammals, leading to entanglement and changes in behavior around farm infrastructure.
The adverse socioeconomic and ecological effects on fishing and coastal communities, seafood markets, and tourism, along with associated businesses, greatly surpass the limited revenue and few jobs created by offshore fish farming. Ultimately, the aim of boosting domestic seafood production and jobs through offshore finfish aquaculture might merely substitute current traditional jobs and fish supply, resulting in no advantage for the U.S. and potentially creating significant problems. That is why it is so important to invest directly into the coastal communities that have been feeding our communities high-quality seafood for generations.
By supporting H.R.9226, you will be supporting healthy oceans and thousands of families that depend on wild caught seafood, whether as an economic source or as a way to provide their family with nutritious protein. 
I respectfully urge you to co-sponsor the Domestic Seafood Production Act.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your City & State]

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Summary

Show your support for small- and medium-scale fishermen and healthy oceans by telling your Congressional representatives that you support the Domestic Seafood Production Act (DSPA). DSPA is a piece of legislation that will provide funding opportunities to support coastal communities who rely on commercial fishing and responsible forms of mariculture, such as appropriately-scaled shellfish and seaweed farming. It will also stop federal agencies from establishing intensive fish farms in federal waters (from 3 to 200 miles offshore). With stakeholder support from across the country and across various sectors of our seafood system — it is clear that people on the ground, and in the water, do not want industrial aquaculture in our oceans! What is industrial aquaculture? The mass cultivation of finfish in marine waters using underwater or floating net pens, pods, and cages. They are sea-based factory farms that harm public health, the environment, and local communities and economies that rely on the ocean and its resources. Tell your Members of Congress to support this bill today!

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Your Federal Representative