Nordic Aquafarms wants to become one of the largest producers of farmed fish. They are currently in the permitting process to develop a fish factory on the Samoa Peninsula in Humboldt County, California.

This Concentrated Aquatic Animal Production (CAAP) facility will start with 10-12 cohorts of 1.3 million fish eggs (12 x 1.3 million = 15,600,000), and expects to process approx. 330,000 pounds of Atlantic Salmon per day. 

The Issue:

Not only are fish factories cruel to fish, but they cause irreparable damage to multiple ecosystems. Nordic Aquafarms advertises as sustainable, but their proposed California location will:

• divert 2.5 million gallons daily of freshwater from the Mad River
• extract 10 million gallons daily of water from the Pacific ocean via the Humboldt Bay
• discharge 12.5 million gallons of effluent daily into the Pacific ocean 
• discharge temperature will be between 68°F and 72°F
  • average ocean temperature near Eureka, CA is 51.8°F in the spring and winter, and 53.6°F during the summer and fall
  • RWQCB draft NPDES permit states that ocean temperature near the discharge area was 46.6°F when tested. That’s a 25.4°F temperature difference between the discharge and receiving waters.
• discharge will contain approximately:
  • 673 kilograms (1,483 pounds) of nitrogen daily
  • 5.8 kilograms (12.78 pounds) of phosphorus daily 
  • 185 kilograms (407 pounds) of suspended solids daily 
• require approx. 216,000 pounds of fish feed per day. Feed will contain fishmeal, fish oil, poultry trimmings, poultry fat, canola oil, wheat, corn or soy, vitamins, minerals, and natural or synthetic carotenoids.
• use an average of 21.4 megawatts of electricity (for reference, all of Humboldt County uses 170-180 megawatts of power during highest peak demand). Solar panels will be utilized when possible, but will only reduce energy consumption by approx. 3 - 5 megawatts.

Factory farms are a leading contributor to climate change. The answer to curbing climate change is not another factory farm. Investing in small, local, organic, sustainable farms is the only way forward! 

There is still time to stop this mega-factory from disrupting ecosystems. Four steps you can do to take action today:

1. Sign this petition to show that you do not support Nordic Aquafarms discharging effluent into the ocean.
2. The Humboldt County Planning and Building Department has released a draft Mitigated Negative Declaration document and is now accepting public comments. The planning commission will vote on June 3, 2021. Get your voice heard! Submit comments regarding Nordic Aquafarms by May 24, 2021. Include Nordic Aquafarms’ SCH number 2021040532 with your comment. Submit comments to:
   asuarez@co.humboldt.ca.us 
   or by mail at: 
   Humboldt County Planning and Building Department 3015 H Street, Eureka, CA 95501
3. Nordic Aquafarms is currently waiting on approval for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The RWQCB has released a draft permit and is scheduled to have a public hearing on August 18, 2021. Submit your comment by June 4th, 2021. Include Nordic Aquafarms’ SCH number 2021040532 with your comment. Submit comments to:                          NorthCoast@waterboards.ca.gov
4. Nordic Aquafarms is currently waiting on approval for a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) -Discharge from the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The CCC is still in the early stages of reviewing the permit. They have yet to set a date for a public hearing, but are currently accepting comments regarding this project. Submit comments to:                                                NorthCoast@coastal.ca.gov 

Let them know that you do not support another corporation depleting natural resources for financial gain! 

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*In nature, Atlantic Salmon spend a few years in the river where they are born. Then they travel to the ocean where they swim for a few more years--sometimes journeying up to 6,000 miles before returning to the river to spawn, and eventually making their way back out to the ocean. Nordic Aquafarms will be keeping Atlantic Salmon confined in tanks for approx. two years before slaughtering them.

*In 2020, California experienced some of the worst fires in state history--the largest of which was near the Mad River.