Offshore Finfish Farming - OFF - is the mass cultivation of finfish in marine waters in underwater or floating net pens, pods and cages. They are sea-based factory farms that harm public health, the environment, and local communities and economies that rely on the ocean and its resources.

These facilities discharge untreated fish waste and chemicals directly into natural waters. Pens are packed with finfish and can become a breeding ground for parasites like sea lice, and other fatal diseases. In response, industrial farms use a variety of antibiotics, pesticides, and other chemicals, which pollute the ocean and contaminate the fish.

There are massive escapes of farmed fish, which can threaten the health of wild fish. Large-scale fish farms attract predators, seabirds, and other wildlife that can become entangled, then die in the nets and lines.

The industry has adopted the factory farming business model, which centralizes big corporation control and places profits above environmental protection, worker rights, animal welfare, and social responsibility. Offshore Finfish Farming cordons off our oceans to feed the private greed of industrial aquaculture.

If we allow large corporations to take over our oceans with massive fish farms, fishing communities, responsible seafood producers, the environment, and consumers will suffer. And right now, the US Administration and Congress are promoting this kind of farming.