Venice Council will discuss weighing in on Ocean Era aquaculture permit

VENICE – The Venice City Council will decide Tuesday whether to support a letter authorized by its Environmental Advisory Board urging that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rescind its permit for a waste discharge system linked to the proposed Ocean Era Aquaculture project off of south Sarasota County.

The EPA issued the permit last September, authorizing the project to discharge more than 80,000 pounds of fish waste per year into the Gulf of Mexico.

In March, a federal appeals board put a hold on the company’s permits. That hold is scheduled to expire June 1.

Ocean Era wants to raise about 20,000 pounds of 20,000 longfin yellowtail, also known as Alamco jack, in the net pen. Because the fish would be treated with antibiotics, a discharge permit is required.

Ocean Era’s Velella Epsilon aquaculture demonstration project is to be in the Gulf of Mexico at 27° 7’ 20.51”N and 83° 12’ 1.37”W. The proposed site is west of the city of Venice, north of Englewood.