Posted by Dr Bill on March 15, 2003 at 19:34:45:
In Reply to: Re: casino point ... posted by Steve on March 13, 2003 at 07:22:01:
Fish hatcheries may, or may not, be a different case from open water aquaculture pens. It would depend on several factors. If the fish are being fed additives like hormones, it might be an issue in the discharge water. If the hatchery is not directly dumping waste water to the ocean, but is either treating it before dumping or it goes through a muncipal treatment plant the issues of elevated fecal and food wastes may not affect anything but the cost of sewage treatment.
The white sea bass pens I'm familiar with are the open water pens at Cat Harbor on Catalina. I would think there could be some problems here, certainly with disease transmission but possibly not with introduced hormones.
I know the students at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies did a report on this issue several years ago. I can't remember what they reported specifically, but if you contact WIES they should be able to tell you.