Environmental Observations around Offshore Cages in Hawaii

Concern for possible environmental damage constrains development of the aquaculture
industry in the United States. Potential environmental interactions, including degradation
of water quality, introduction of exotic species, pollution of the seafloor, adverse interaction
with the seafloor benthic community, adverse interactions with protected species, and genetic interactions of potential escapees are all generally viewed as negative interactions, and thus are of substantial concern to the public and to regulators. Certainly, the culture of finfish in cages can be detrimental to the local water quality and the benthos beneath the cages when the fish are overfed or when too many production units are located in an area of limited carrying capacity or restricted circulation, as has been demonstrated by numerous published reports (see Black 2001 for a summary).