Farming in the Commons, Fishing in the Congress, and U.S. Aquaculture in the 21St Century Aaron W

Farming in the Commons, Fishing in the Congress, and U.S. Aquaculture in the 21St Century Aaron W

University of Miami Scholarly Repository Open Access Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015-08-03 Farming in the Commons, Fishing in the Congress, and U.S. Aquaculture in the 21st Century Aaron W. Welch University of Miami, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations Recommended Citation Welch, Aaron W., "Farming in the Commons, Fishing in the Congress, and U.S. Aquaculture in the 21st Century" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1486. This Open access is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at Scholarly Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FARMING IN THE COMMONS, FISHING IN THE CONGRESS AND U.S. AQUACULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY By Aaron Welch A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the University of Miami in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Coral Gables, Florida August 2015 © 2015 Aaron Welch All Rights Reserved UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy FARMING IN THE COMMONS, FISHING IN THE CONGRESS AND U.S. AQUACULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY Aaron Welch Approved: ________________ _________________ Daniel Benetti, Ph.D. Kenneth Broad, Ph.D. Professor of Aquaculture Professor of Environmental Science and Policy ________________ _________________ Gary Hitchcock, Ph.D. Felix Mormann, J.S.D. Associate Professor of Marine Biology Associate Professor of Law ________________ _________________ Jennifer Jacquet, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Associate Professor of Environmental Studies New York University WELCH, AARON (Ph.D., Environmental Science and Policy) Farming in the Commons, Fishing (August 2015) in the Congress and U.S. Aquaculture in the 21st Century Abstract of a dissertation at the University of Miami Dissertation supervised by Professors Dan Benetti and Kenneth Broad No. of pages in text (185) Fisheries and aquaculture policy in the United States exhibits a peculiar duality. Commercial fishing is functionally open-access, heavily subsidized, and regulated by a federal bureaucracy staffed in part by fishing industry representatives. Marine aquaculture, in contrast, is effectively forbidden. Today there are no functioning fish farms anywhere in the federal waters of the United States, largely due to a regulatory environment that discourages applications for aquaculture permits. This bifurcated policy does not seem to be dependent on any specific environmental or economic rationale. Instead, this policy appears to be the product of a series of individual assumptions and policy choices that may have been initially reasonable, but have since accreted into an unworkable whole. This dissertation consists of a series of unique, but thematically connected research projects designed to examine current U.S. policy on aquaculture and fishing in the United States, and the assumptions that inform that policy, with the goal of informing a more consistent treatment for these two modes of seafood production. Chapter 1 introduces the dissertation by reframing the discussion of aquaculture and fishing, by examining the global importance of aquaculture as a productive system, and by discussing the blurring line between fishing and aquaculture. This chapter also provides a roadmap for the rest of the dissertation. Chapter 2 examines the federal fisheries management system in light of historical reality and public choice theory. Chapter 3 describes the nutrient footprint of an offshore aquaculture facility. Chapter 4 uses disclosures from the federal lobbying disclosure system to examine the patterns of advocacy around aquaculture and fishing in the U.S. Congress and administrative agencies. Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation with a few thoughts on the value of interdisciplinarity in pursuing further research into aquaculture and fisheries policy in the United States. DEDICATION To Theresa especially, but also to Maggie, Lizzie, and Aaron. And to my parents. And to everyone else who has had the patience to wait for this to be finished. Thank you. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A number of individuals and institutions provided invaluable financial support for the work that is presented in this dissertation including NOAA Sea Grant, the NOAA Marine Fisheries Initiative, Cuna del Mar, and the Frank and Mimi Slaughter Philanthropic Foundation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Chapter List of Figures............................................................................................... ......... vi List of Tables................................................................................................. ........ vii 1 AN INTRODUCTION: WHY STUDY AQUACULTURE? ........................ 1 1.1 The Disconnect .......................................................................................... 2 1.2 Farmers Ascendant ..................................................................................... 4 1.3 Harvesting and Producing: The Integration of Aquaculture and Fishing .. 7 1.4 Beyond the Cage Rim: A Few Points About Aquaculture’s Impact Beyond Farm and Fishing Boat ................................................................. 10 1.5 Downstream of Fishing: A Few Points on the Lack of Aquaculture Scholarship ................................................................................................. 14 1.6 Conclusion: Aquaculture is Interested in You ........................................... 16 2 THE SECOND COMMONS: RETHINKING FISHERIES REFORM FOR THE POLITICAL MARKET .......................................................................... 19 2.1 Background ................................................................................................ 20 2.2 Regulatory Capture, or Something Just Like It ......................................... 24 2.3 The Tragedy of the Commons: Physical and Political ............................... 28 2.4 The Western Range Revisited Revisited .................................................... 35 2.5 Lessons for Fisheries Management ............................................................ 43 2.6 Strategies for The Marketplace .................................................................. 51 2.7 Conclusion: How Sex is Like Fishing ....................................................... 61 3 THE NUTRIENT FOOTPRINT OF OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE .......... 65 3.1 Motivation for Study .................................................................................. 66 3.2 Materials and Methods ............................................................................... 69 3.3 Results ........................................................................................................ 82 3.4 Discussion .................................................................................................. 96 4 FISHING FOR FARMS: LOBBYING ON FEDERAL AQUACULTURE ... POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES: 2005-2011 .......................................... 102 4.1 The Question Presented ............................................................................. 103 4.2 Lobbying .................................................................................................... 112 4.3 The Offshore Aquaculture Act ................................................................... 115 4.4 Method ....................................................................................................... 118 4.5 Results ........................................................................................................ 122 4.6 Discussion .................................................................................................. 127 4.7 Conclusion: The Efficient Market Possibility ............................................ 137 5 THE VIRTUE OF NECESSITY: A FEW UNIFYING THOUGHTS ............ 141 WORKS CITED…....................................................................................................... 149 v LIST OF FIGURES 1. Farm location and farmed species ......................................................................... 71 2. Sea Station 6,400 m3 submersible cage ................................................................ 71 3. Water column sampling scheme ........................................................................... 75 4. Sediment sampling scheme ................................................................................... 77 5. Vertical profile of D.O. concentrations up- and downstream of cage site (2012) ............................................................................................................. 83 6. Vertical profile of D.O. concentrations up- and downstream of cage site (2013) ............................................................................................................. 84 7. Vertical profile of Chl-a concentrations up- and downstream of cage site (2012) ............................................................................................................. 85 8. Vertical profile of Chl-a concentrations up- and downstream of cage site (2013) ............................................................................................................. 86 - - 9. Horizontal Profile of NO2 +NO3 concentrations at 5, 15, 30, and 60m (2012 and 2013) ....................................................................................................

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