Monday, August 6, 2012 A Southern California entrepreneur
already has a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provision permit to
harvest a million pounds of mussels and oysters from an
underwater shellfish farm nearly five miles offshore. The
project, described as a milestone in aquaculture, now needs
California Coastal Commission approval. Open ocean cultivation,
rather than shallow bays and estuaries, will produce higher
growth rates, better meat yields and heavier production than
shellfish farms close to shore, Philip Cruver said. "Our goal is
to show this can be done and put a dent in the nation's $10.4
billion seafood deficit," said Cruver, 67. Construction of a
100-acre pilot plot of hanging nets off Long Beach could begin
next year with the first harvest of 500,000 Mediterranean
mussels and 500,000 Pacific oysters, the Los Angeles Times
reported on Monday. Cruver hopes to expand his KZO Sea Farms
mussels and oyster ranch to 1,000 acres. KZO plans to grow
oysters and mussels on nearly four dozen 500-foot lines