BLUE REVOLUTION HAWAII: PROPOSAL FOR A PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL OCEAN STATION

World fisheries agencies have long warned of the depletion of wild fish stocks in our oceans due to overfishing to meet rapidly growing human demands for seafood. The potential of aquaculture for providing safe, sustainable seafood supplies to the world has long been recognized. Seafood aquaculture already supplies total yields about equal to caught fish, but conflicts with near-shore and on-shore usages, navigation lanes, commercial fisheries, and feed and waste discharges in local waters are imposing limits to its expansion.

The obvious solution is to develop ocean aquaculture in deep, voluminous ocean waters farther from shore. But the proof of economically sustainable and environmentally protective best practices is needed before commercial operators will undertake the risks of deep ocean aquaculture operations.

Blue Revolution Hawaii is advocating the deployment of the Pacific International Ocean Station (PIOS) in Hawaiian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters 35-75 miles offshore on the lee side southwest from the Hawaiian Islands. PIOS would be a pilot test station for the eventual deployment of commercial ocean resources production platforms in ocean waters.

The 35-75-mile-band of EEZ ocean waters provides a 20,000 square-mile region along the southwest side of the Hawaiian Islands that may ultimately be designated for commercial-scale ocean resources production operations. This area lies in the vacant zone between existing Hawaii-based day-boat and longline fishing operations and is situated far from near-shore usages, navigation lanes, and marine mammal and reef preserve areas.

The PIOS Station would be designed to support a test fleet of submerged fish-growing cages for growing pelagic species of fish from fingerlings to harvesting. A semi-buoyant core platform (similar to oil/gas drilling platforms) would be elevated above storm-surge wave heights and would provide housing and operations space for up to 200 scientific researchers, ocean monitoring personnel, and fish cage operations workers. An outer line of tethered ocean wind turbines can provide electricity for on-platform activities.

The PIOS Station research would include ongoing monitoring and data-gathering of climate, marine life and ocean environment, and would test, design and validate best practices for sustainable and environmentally protective operations for deep ocean aquaculture and other ocean resources production.