It was the first successful integrated experiment in open-ocean mariculture, according to the Sea Grant Program. In an interview upon his retirement from Sea Grant in March, Helsley said his experiment shows open-ocean fish farming can be done commercially in coastal areas without harmful impacts if it is done responsibly. He also said the permit process is stifling and should be simplified. The effects of state and federal policies and regulatory processes will be examined as part of the study, and possible policy changes discussed to encourage ocean aquaculture farms. E. Gordon Grau, who replaced Helsley as Sea Grant director, said Helsley has brought together private industry, the UH, Oceanic Institute and other parties in a concerted effort to develop the program.
Technology is there.
He said the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology supported a number of projects in the 1970s that increased understanding of the moi's reproductive cycle. Young said the project involves taking existing data that are not easily accessible and analyzing or modeling them to obtain new information. The planning office will incorporate the data into a geographic information system to define suitable coastal sites.