A Pacific halibut is seen at the bottom of the sea in this undated photo. The commentary author writes that halibut could be farmed under a bill Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced. (Photo provided by NOAA Fisheries)
This gem from President Franklin Roosevelt could be applied to the reaction of commercial fishing representatives to a proposal to authorize freshwater fish farming.
Granted Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposal is flawed, but the concept shouldn’t send shudders in the fishing community. Trout farming isn’t going to lead to salmon farming.
HB 111 is not only a freshwater farming measure, as it does not prohibit upland saltwater farms. Its definition of what species might be farmed is Osteichthyes, which Wikipedia describes as the “largest class of vertebrates in existence today…being an extremely diverse and abundant group consisting of 45 orders, over 43 families and 28,000 species.”
This could lead to upland farms of halibut and black cod, two species important to commercial fishermen and which are being farmed elsewhere. It also would allow non-native species to be farmed.
It is unclear what the governor had in mind when drafting HB 111, but it is a departure from the concept I had proposed and was working with House members to consider. I wrote a commentary calling for making freshwater fish farming legal and shared it with the Dunleavy administration.
My proposal was to allow the farming of endemic freshwater species in tanks or enclosed lakes or ponds. The stocks would be triploids, or sterile, as a safeguard against escapees.
I singled out arctic char and sheefish, two species which show great promise, and are important in traditional diets of Alaska Natives. Char and sheefish both thrive in high densities without the use of antibiotics and prefer cold waters.
The proposal was designed to provide residents of the Yukon-Kuskokwim deltas with high quality protein to replace or supplement the loss of salmon, so important in their diets. It also would allow the state to diversify its economy by providing small business opportunities for rural residents.
Not a new oil field, gas line or large mine, not a solution for the state’s precarious fiscal crisis, just a small step in the right direction.
I fully understand that it will take years to achieve as there are no local markets for these species and there is much to learn.
As a fish eater all my 77 years, I know the difference between trout and salmon. Trout will never threaten salmon as the preferred center of the plate meal. The fishing community has nothing to fear.
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