A planned fish farm off Florida’s Gulf Coast has received an environmental permit allowing operators to discharge nutrient-laden water from what could be the first commercial-scale saltwater aquaculture operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
EPA’s issuance of the modified wastewater discharge permit for the Velella Epsilon project, about 40 miles west of Sarasota County, will allow Ocean Era to produce up 55,000 pounds of red drum annually. The permit includes strict measures to contain fish, minimize effluent and protect the facility against disasters like hurricanes.
The two-year permit, which takes effect June 17, further requires that discharges of food and animal wastes “shall not cause unreasonable degradation of the marine environment underneath the facility and in the surrounding area.” Unreasonable degradation is defined as “significant adverse changes in ecosystem diversity, productivity and stability of the biological community within the discharge area and surrounding communities.”
The facility, which could hold about 20,000 fish in water depths of about 130 feet, also may not discharge wastes within 12 nautical miles of the Florida coast, and effluent may not cause a visible sheen on the receiving water, according to the EPA permit under its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program.
