Case Solvency

Politics DA

Politics Link 1NC

Centralization under NOAA costs PC

“There is no regulatory framework in place — if you were to submit an application for an aquaculture site in the EEZ, it’s possible it would never be looked at by anyone,” says Richard Langan, the director of the University of New Hampshire’s Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center, which has been experimenting with offshore techniques at test sites off the Atlantic coast for more than a decade. Last summer, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service approved a plan that would open the Gulf of Mexico’s offshore waters to aquaculture. NOAA lawyers and policy planners are devising regulations for that, but the one — and only — thing that fish farmers, environmentalists, and government officials agree on is that the United States and other countries need to come up with truly national plans. An obvious solution is to put a single agency — possibly NOAA, the lead agency on ocean policy — in charge. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Pew Oceans Commission, which both recommended major reforms in recent years, both favored this idea. But it all depends on the contentious, unpredictable politics of fisheries. Such a change requires a new law from Congress. There’s no bill yet (Leonard says some members are drafting one), and when one is introduced, it won’t necessarily be easy to pass. Many fishing industry organizations oppose offshore aquaculture, fearing possible competition, pollution, and navigation hazards. Food and Water Watch, a Washington-based environmental group, opposes any expansion of offshore fish farming because of the potential threat to the ocean environment. Other groups want significant restrictions that offshore fish farmers would oppose. Until there’s a national policy, most offshore aquaculture will take place in state waters, where authority is divided between states and federal agencies. For the time being, some entrepreneurs are moving to countries with lower costs, less red tape — and less environmental oversight. O’Hanlon says he transferred his operations from U.S. waters off Puerto Rico to Panama in part because of bureaucratic frustration. Sims, of Kona Blue, is planning a new aquaculture project off the Mexican coast after the Hawaii state government wouldn’t give him a permit to expand his existing operations. “There’s a lot of emotion and knee-jerk sentiment against the idea of farming fish, and I don’t get it,” Sims says. “...We have to hope the overwhelming logic of moving toward sustainable mariculture will hold sway, but I’m not sure it’s happening fast enough, because a lot of entrepreneurship and investment is flowing overseas.”

Politics Link 2NC

Plan causes politics fights – empirically proven

Bill Frezza – 11/26/12, fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Regulatory Uncertainty Drives Fish Farmer to Foreign Waters, Real Clear Markets, http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2012/11/26/regulatory_uncertainty_drives_fish_farmer_to_foreign_waters_100008.html

NOAA made several attempts a decade ago to promote a national aquatic farming initiative that would cut through the red tape and set up a one-stop-shop for deep-water fish farming permits. Bills were introduced in Congress twice but were shot down due to opposition from entrenched fishing interests. While this sort of short-term protectionism is always politically popular, the reality is that domestic fisheries continue to shrink due to catch limitations. A thriving deep water aquaculture industry could provide sustainable jobs for old fishing communities, repurposing much of the fishing fleet and dockside infrastructure to handle the new business. Perhaps someday. As for now, Brian is focused on making his venture a success in a country that still understands the value of economic freedom.

Politics – A2: Plan = Exec

Circumventing Congress causes backlash – magnifies the link to the DA

Allison Winter – 4/23/09, NYT, Obama admin hands offshore aquaculture oversight to NOAA, http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/04/23/23greenwire-obama-admin-hands-offshore-aquaculture-oversig-10648.html

The Bush administration's last attempt to advance offshore fish farms came in a 405-page proposal for renewable energy that the administration put forward last July. The rules govern the leasing of ocean tracts in federal waters for wind projects and hydropower projects that would harness waves and currents. Bush's MMS tucked in a provision that would have also allowed "alternate" uses of offshore facilities -- including deep ocean ports or aquaculture. House Democrats and environmental groups maligned Bush's proposal, saying MMS lacks authority and expertise for such permitting. They blasted the provision as an indirect way for the Bush administration to advance an agenda for offshore aquaculture that it had failed to move through Congress.

Australia CP

Australia CP 1NC

The Commonwealth of Australia should substantially increase its development of the aquaculture industry, including by decreasing and harmonizing regulations on aquaculture.

Australia can uniquely take the helm of aquaculture with feeding supplies and leadership

Lehane, ’13 (Sinead Lehane, 8/27/13, FDI research analyst, Future directions International, “Fish for the Future: Aquaculture and Sustainability” http://www.futuredirections.org.au/publications/food-and-water-crises/1269-fish-for-the-future-aquaculture-and-food-security.html)

Australia is in a unique position to engage with the aquaculture industry in the Indian Ocean region and provide considerable support for its development. Fish trade in the region is strong and Australia, as a key trading partner in the agricultural sector, can monitor and support its stability while providing guidance to partner nations and establishing new trade opportunities. The ongoing research into feed alternatives is also a key priority for future aquaculture expansion. The potential use of Australian grains and agricultural products for future feed supplies creates a unique opportunity for global marketing. Currently 20-25 thousand tonnes of lupins are used annually in aqua-feed in Norway, Japan and Australia. As the use of wild fish as feed in aquaculture farming is addressed, Australia will increasingly find new trade opportunities in feed development, production and export. The aquaculture industry in Australia is witnessing rapid growth, with bluefin tuna, one of the most lucrative fish species farmed along the south coast. Atlantic salmon and tiger prawns are two other high-value species farmed in Australia, along with rainbow trout, barramundi and various species of molluscs. With health and safety standards restricting many aquaculture farmers in developing states, Australia could play a vital role in technology transfer and systems management for others in the region.

2NC Solvency

Australia has better natural conditions for aquaculture than the U.S. and other countries

Starck, 09 (Walter Starck, one of the pioneers in the scientific investigation of coral reefs, PhD in Marine Science; “Green slime: Our biggest environmental threat”, Golden Dolphin, June 2009, http://www.goldendolphin.com/WSarticles/GreenSlime-AusmarineJune09.pdf)

Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector in world food production. For the past three decades, global production has increased by over 1,200 percent with an average compound growth of around nine percent per annum. Australia, with some 60,000km of mostly uninhabited coastline well suited for aquaculture, a benign climate and unpolluted waters, clearly has vast potential, yet development of the industry is now declining after a weak start. A comparison of Australian aquaculture production with that of a sampling of other nations is instructive. Thailand and Vietnam each have only about one-eighth of Australia's coastline; but both have around 30 times greater aquaculture production than Australia. The EU has over 40 times greater. Even New Zealand has over double Australia's production. Although the small size of Austral ia's industry has been attributed to higher cost structure there is obviously something more to it than this. Certainly Australian costs for land, labour, equipment, energy and feedstock are at no disadvantage to Canada, France, Japan, Norway, the UK, or the US. Yet all have hugely greater aquaculture industries. The real reason is only one thing: over-regulation. Despite the world's best natural conditions for it, aquaculture in Australia has been strangled at birth by an impossible morass of regulations. It is only these regulatory demands which impose multi-fold greater expenses, delays and uncertainties than anywhere else. Apart from a few exceptions that became well established before regulation made new operations uneconomic, aquaculture here has actually been declining in recent years while it continues to boom elsewhere. The only sector booming here is regulation.

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