Aquaculture: opportunity or threat to traditional capture fishermen

摘要

Most aquaculturists support the notion that aquaculture has the potential to help segments of the commercial fishing industry. Not all commercial fishermen agree. There are definitely clear geographic differences in how fishermen feel about aquacare. The difference between Alaskan commercial fishermen and New England fishermen on this issue is quite marked. Dr. Rob Robertson, a professor in the Department of Resource Economics at the University of New Hampshire, interviewed 311 inshore fishermen from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine (Robertson et al. 2001). He found that 53 percent were willing to be employed in the aquaculture industry. This would not be the case in Alaska where commercial fishermen are adamantly apposed to any netpen culture offish. In fact, the state of Alaska does not allow any netpen culture of finfish. Various segments of the commercial fishing industry also differ greatly. Shellfish harvesters support aquaculture because most of them are using aquaculture techniquesto enhance productivity, while New England lobster fishermen are concerned about losing valuable fishing grounds. In the Cedar Key area of Florida, there is a 10 million dollar clam aquaculture business with the majority of the 300 growers being displaced net fishermen. According to Chris Bartlett, commercial fishermen in the Cobscook Bay region of Maine, have been successful at contracting their services of delivering feed, transferring fish, harvesting fish and doing general maintenance, such as mooring work and towing cages to the salmon farms. Commercial fishermen have received financial compensation for working in open ocean aquaculture research projects in Hawaii and New Hampshire. If marine aquaculture successfully moves offshore, commercial fishermen, their vessels and their expertise will be needed.