Nordic Aquafarms proposes to build a land-based fish farm at the former Samoa pulp mill that they say would use a mixture of fresh and salt water to raise Yellowtail Kingfish, discharging up to 10.3 million gallons of effluent daily through the existing 1½-mile long ocean outfall. Bay intakes would supply 10 mgd saltwater, while 300,000 gallons per day of freshwater would be supplied by the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. Remodeling the former pulp mill would include removing the smokestack and other asbestos- and lead-laden structures, debris, and contaminated soil. Below are our comments submitted on the Project's permits and environmental review:
We will continue to watchdog Nordic Aquafarms’ proposal, and will keep our members and the community informed of opportunities for input. To receive updates, send an email to alerts [AT] humboldtwaterkeeper.org.
The California Coastal Commission decided unanimously Wednesday that five appeals brought to the commission over Nordic Aquafarms’ proposed aquaculture facility raised no substantial issues, at least within the confines of the appeals.“I think their hearts and their minds and their concerns are absolutely in the right places. These are the issues we really, really need to be dealing with,” said Commissioner Mike Wilson.He added he agreed with staff the concerns weren’t in the confines of the appeal.
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Last Thursday, the Coastal Commission unanimously approved a 5-year permit for Nordic Aquafarms to discharge tertiary-treated wastewater through the 1.5-mile long ocean outfall that was built for the pulp mill in the 1960s. The ocean outfall has attracted a number of potential developers since the pulp mill closed for good in 2008, including a quickly-withdrawn scheme to process gold ore with toxic chemicals like cyanide.As approved, the Coastal Development Permit includes additional ocean monitoring requirements that we've been calling for since 2021 to examine the effects of the discharge on the marine ecosystem. Coastal oceanography, water quality, and benthic habitat will be monitored for two years prior to any discharge to document current conditions. Once the facility begins to discharge, four rounds of monitoring will be required each year in spring and summer to inform a comparative evaluation of toxic algae and their toxins, plankton, and other organisms.
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Nordic Aquafarms has cleared yet another hurdle in the extensive permitting process for its land-based fish farm planned for the Samoa Peninsula. During today’s monthly meeting, the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved a coastal development permit, with special conditions, for wastewater discharge for the proposed project.The Norwegian seafood company plans to raise yellowtail kingfish at the massive aquaculture facility, which would discharge more than 10 million gallons of “tertiary treated wastewater” per day through the existing Redwood Marine Terminal II outfall pipe located 1.55 miles offshore. To put that into perspective, when the Samoa Pulp Mill was operational it would produce 70 million gallons of untreated wastewater per day, according to Coastal Commission staff.
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A permit for Nordic Aquafarms was unanimously approved by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, with some amendments, in a meeting Thursday in Eureka. This permit, surrounding wastewater discharge of the project, is one of the requirements the project needs to meet to build a fish farm project on the abandoned pump mill site in Samoa.There was some back and forth between staff and the board — board members were hesitant to approve the permit, noting a lack of data and concerns brought up during public comment. Chair Hector Bedolla began the discussion with a call to eschew politics and make decisions based on the available science.
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Nordic Aquafarms announced a switch to yellowtail kingfish at the company’s proposed facility in Humboldt Bay. Formerly, the company was planning to farm Atlantic salmon.The company anticipates the aquafarm will “start smaller” than what was projected for Atlantic salmon, and the farm will use less freshwater and energy than previous designs.This is following years of permitting work to get the project off the ground and a number of concerns raised from environmental groups.“From the Baykeeper perspective, this is an improvement — partly just based on the sheer size of the thing, but also a lot of the concerns with Atlantic salmon will go away with this new species,” said Jennifer Kalt, executive director of Humboldt Baykeeper.Questions have been raised about bringing Atlantic salmon to the region, which is not native to California. Kalt noted there has never been a permit in California to raise Atlantic salmon. Competition with local salmon fishermen and a lack of state-approved egg sources are no longer considerations for the farm, which would grow a species of fish eaten as sashimi.Local environmental groups have yet to see updated plans that detail these changes.The company still needs permits from the regional water board for discharge and intake, one from the California Coastal Commission, and one from the Army Corps of Engineers.“A lot of people are really concerned about the nutrient discharge into the ocean. It would give a lot of people a lot more confidence that it can be done without harming the ocean and environment if they start on a small scale and we can see how it operates,” said Kalt.Read More
