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Tell the EPA to Crack Down On Underwater Factory Farms Polluting Waterways with Toxic Scum

Tell the EPA to Crack Down On Underwater Factory Farms Polluting Waterways with Toxic Scum

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently drafting permits that will allow 14 industrial fish farms in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts to pollute local bodies of water with toxic scum. These underwater factory farms are part of a cycle of suffering and environmental destruction which hurts the animals inside them, wild animals, and local communities. We have just days left to urge the EPA to stop these farms from harming fish and many other animals by pumping waste into vital water bodies!

The state wildlife agencies of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts manage multiple fish hatcheries, which are essentially underwater factory farms. Fish are raised in dirty, overcrowded conditions and are  then released into bodies of water so they can be captured by anglers. These domesticated animals are unable to survive in the wild and often die shortly after release from exposure and hunger. 

Releasing invasive fish into new habitats harms native fish via competition for resources, the spread of disease, and predation. Hatcheries also direct department resources away from native fish conservation. Enormous amounts of money are squandered on hatcheries while programs to protect native fish are neglected and gutted. 

The poor treatment of animals in fish hatcheries inevitably leads to unsustainable and environmentally hazardous conditions. Large numbers of animals are crowded into dirty facilities and produce masses of filth to the detriment of neighbors. Fish hatcheries discharge high amounts of phosphorus pollution in local bodies of water in the form of fish waste and feed. This stimulates the growth of bacterial blooms which degrade water quality and creates a foul scum on the water surface. Many bodies of water, or portions of them, have been closed off to recreation due to these toxic conditions.

In Defense of Animals is working with a coalition of New Hampshire based organizations including the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, Voices of Wildlife in New Hampshire, and Twin States Animal Liberation to resolve these issues.

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