ST. PETERSBURG - Imports satisfy 80 percent of America's seafood craving. Shrimp, salmon, tilapia and other favorites journey thousands of miles to reach our plates but still undercut local prices because they are grown on high-intensity fish farms.

The federal government now wants to fight fire with fire, using the Gulf of Mexico as a vast, offshore fish farming laboratory.

Regulations under consideration next month would allow underwater cages the size of an average McDonald's restaurant, spread in clusters over dozens of acres. With each cage holding 70,000 to 100,000 pounds of fish, just two 40-cage farms in deep water could produce as much fresh seafood as Florida's grouper fleet hauls ashore in a year.

"Experts believe that offshore has great potential for all kinds of sustainable aquaculture," reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on its Web site.

Several environmental groups are leery.

Nearshore farming dramatically dropped global salmon prices but also polluted surrounding waters. Penned-in fish sometimes needed antibiotics and antiparasite medicine to survive. Non-native species, like the "Atlantic salmon" raised in Chile and British Columbia, sometimes escaped into the wild.

The proposed offshore rules "contain no specific pollution standards. We don't know what kind of effluent is going to be acceptable," said Maryanne Cufone, of Food and Water Watch. "We don't know what likely chemicals will be needed to keep the fish healthy and keep the cages free of fouling organisms. This is a new industry the federal government is trying to promote, but there is no reason to rush."

Horror stories from the salmon industry will not repeat themselves in the open gulf, said Wayne Swingle, director of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, which regulates gulf fish stocks. Gulf farms would probably locate 20 to 50 miles offshore. Steady current would quickly disperse fish waste and uneaten feed, he said.

Full Story: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/10/Southpinellas/Gulf_to_teem_with_fis.shtml