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This week, filmmaker Kip Andersen, producer of ocean conservation film Seaspiracy, and Ingrid Newkirk, president of animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), sent a joint letter to President Joe Biden. In the letter, Andersen and Newkirk demanded that President Biden overturn Executive Order 13921, which allows for the proliferation of offshore fish factory farms, which, aside from being cruel to farmed fish, are environmentally damaging to wild marine populations and oceans. The Trump-era executive order also limits the environmental review of developing these aquaculture farms and places the burden on taxpayers to identify the locations where these farms can be constructed. |
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“In issuing and implementing Executive Order 13921, the Trump administration made it clear that it was intended to reduce the burdens on commercial fishing operations, and it indisputably shifts the cost of planning for such operations to taxpayers and reduces regulatory review of proposed projects despite the extensive harm to fish and the marine environment,” the letter states. “Your administration has already taken many actions to stay, suspend, or reverse Trump administration decisions that jeopardize wildlife and the environment. We commend you on those efforts and urge you also to revoke Executive Order 13921 to end this damaging policy in order to protect countless fish, other marine animals including birds, the sensitive marine environment, and potentially even human health from significant harm.” |
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