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Posts Tagged ‘aquaculture’

NOAA EIS’s assess Gulf and Pacific aquaculture, but don’t consider the potential for synergy with existing platforms.

Posted in decommissioning, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, rigs-to-reefs, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

NOAA is touting marine aquaculture and has published Programmatic Environmental Impact Statements for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas (AOAs) in the Gulf of America and offshore Southern California. This is a positive step.

While the focus of these EIS documents is on distinct AOAs separated from oil and gas facilities, NOAA might also have discussed the potential for synergy with existing platforms. The reef effect of platforms can be sustained and new fishery ventures supported by converting older platforms to aquaculture facilities (Rigs-to-Roe/Redfish/Rockfish) rather than decommissioning them.

The ecological importance of offshore platforms has been well documented in both the Gulf and Santa Barbara Channel Channel area.

According to a paper published in 2014 by marine ecologist Dr. Jeremy Claisse of Cal Poly Pomona, the oil and gas platforms off the coast of California are the most productive marine habitats per unit area in the world. “Even the least productive platform was more productive than Chesapeake Bay or a coral reef in Moorea,” said Dr. Love. (Milt Love, UCSB biologist)

beneath Platform Gilda, Santa Barbara Channel

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Aquaculture resurfaces

Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, rigs-to-reefs, tagged , , , , , on June 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Rigs-to-Range

As is the case every 5 years or so, there is another aquaculture push within the Federal government. It looks like this will be a very process-rich endeavor (check out the list of “Scoping Information Needs“), so don’t expect much soon.

NOAA Fisheries is conducting public scoping for a programmatic environmental impact statement to consider identifying one or more AOAs in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The programmatic environmental impact statement will evaluate the impacts and benefits associated with siting aquaculture in those locations, which could occur through future proposals and project level review. Public scoping is an opportunity for the public to provide input on the range of issues to be addressed in the programmatic environmental impact statement. This is a planning effort and no specific aquaculture-related activities or individual aquaculture projects are being proposed at this time.

NOAA FIsheries

Rigs-to-Roe (Redfish, Rockfish)

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Rigs to Roe (Redfish, Rockfish)!

Posted in decommissioning, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, rigs-to-reefs, tagged , , , , on December 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »

An old offshore platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is set to be converted into a working fish farm, creating a blueprint for future aquaculture re-use projects and providing repurposing options for old oil and gas assets.

offshore-energy.biz
Creating blueprint for reusing old oil & gas assets in Gulf of Mexico
Station Padre

Congratulations to the Gulf Offshore Research Institute (GORI) and Innovasea on their plans to transform an offshore Texas gas platform into a working fish farm.

For the complete list of alternative uses for offshore oil and gas platforms, see our Rigs-to-Reefs+++ page.

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