LEFT: Workers seine fish into a box of floating nets, known as a "live car. " The live car is pushed toward a pesculator (left), a device that lifts fish into a 

 grader, a machine that sorts them by size. RIGHT: Lee Brothers (right) chats with Robert Perry (left), of Castle Hayne Fisheries, as fish exit the grader. 



CURRENT REGULATIONS, 

 FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS 



Federal regulations require that 

 aquaculture facilities have a National Pollutant 

 Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit 

 if they produce at least 100,000 pounds of 

 fish per year in flow-through or recirculating 

 systems that discharge water at least 30 days 

 per year. 



In North Carolina, where hybrid striped 

 bass farmers use earthen ponds, a facility also 

 is required to have a NPDES permit if there is 

 documented proof of a water quality standard 

 violation. 



Brothers is applying for a NPDES permit, 

 which dictates he must send in a sample of 

 effluent from his ponds for testing once per year. 

 Brothers says he is more than willing to get the 

 permit, and feels confident his operation is not 

 polluting local waters. But, he acknowledges 

 the issue of water quality won't go away. 



"It's the biggest issue coming at this 

 industry," he says. 



Researchers and regulators know it too. 



Although regulations for pond aquaculture 

 fall under the U.S. Environmental Protection 

 Agency's NPDES process, state agencies can 

 decide to develop and enforce standards that go 

 beyond the basic NPDES requirements. Given 

 the recent increase in complaints, state officials 

 are considering raising the current NPDES stan- 

 dards in North Carolina by incorporating Best 

 Management Practices, or BMPs, into permits 



for hybrid striped bass farmers. 



BMPs are recommended, but not required, 

 methods to help agricultural operations increase 

 efficiency and reduce pollution. DWQ, the 

 N.C. Department of Agriculture, NC State, and 

 North Carolina Sea Grant are developing best 

 management practices specifically for the hybrid 

 striped bass industry in North Carolina. 



Many of these BMPs will focus on 

 reducing particulate matter, such as algae, fish 

 waste and sediment, Hodson says. 



Although regulations for pond aquaculture 

 fall under the U.S. Environmental Protection 

 Agency's NPDES process, state agencies 

 can decide to develop and enforce 

 standards that go beyond the basic NPDES 

 requirements. Given the recent increase in 

 complaints, state officials are considering 

 raising the current NPDES standards in 

 North Carolina by incorporating Best 

 Management Practices, or BMPs, 

 into permits for hybrid striped bass farmers. 



Until those recommendations become final, 

 farmers can follow basic BMPs to save money 

 and reduce the risk of effluent to nearby streams 

 and rivers, say Hodson and Daniels. 



One basic recommendation is to keep pond 

 water six inches below a standpipe, a vertical 

 pipe that controls water levels. When water is 

 kept at a lower level, it is less likely to drain 

 through the standpipe and into receiving waters 



during heavy rains, Daniels says. 



Another recommendation is to avoid 

 draining a pond the same day fish are harvested. 

 This method is known more simply as "Don't 

 Seine and Drain," Hodson notes. 



"When you seine, it stirs up sediment. If 

 you drain the same day, it gets into the receiving 

 water," he explains. "If you wait a few days 

 after seining to drain, the sediment settles back 

 to the bottom of the pond. Then you can release 

 relatively clean water." 



Daniels and Hodson also recommend 

 stocking ponds at a lower density to maintain 

 water quality. They suggest stocking 3,500 to 

 3,700 fish per acre. Higher stocking densities, 

 such as 4,000 or more per acre, could mean more 

 money, but it also means more feed per acre and 

 more waste. Some producers then exchange 

 water more often in effort to maintain adequate 

 water quality in their ponds. 



Researchers understand BMPs must toe a 

 fine line between making recommendations and 

 dictating how much a farmer can produce. 



Daniels hopes a draft of the North Carolina 

 hybrid striped bass BMPs will be available in the 

 next few years, and encourages farmers to speak 

 up during the drafting process. 



"BMPs need to be developed with 

 stakeholder input," he says. "Everybody has to 

 buy into them so they can work." 



In the meantime, Daniels has received 

 funding from Sea Grant to begin monitoring 

 effluents from hybrid striped bass ponds this 



12 Coastwatch I Winter 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



