UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
BERKELEY • DAVIS • IRVINE • LOS ANGELES • MERCED • RIVERSIDE • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO

SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE
WILDLIFE HEALTH CENTER
ONE HEALTH INSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
(530) 752-4167
FAX (530) 752-3318

SANTA BARBARA • SANTA CRUZ

ONE SHIELDS AVENUE
DAVIS, CALIFORNIA 95616-8734

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc

January 11, 2016

Ms. Elizabeth Sablad
US EPA Region 9
75 Hawthorne Street (WTR-5)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Re: NEPA Review for Rose Canyon Fisheries Sustainable Aquaculture Project
Dear Ms. Sablad,
As professor and past Director of the Wildlife Health Center and current Executive Director of the UC
Davis One Health Institute, I am writing to offer my support for the Rose Canyon Fisheries (RCF)
application for permits to operate a commercial aquaculture farm in our nation’s Exclusive Economic
Zone off the coast of San Diego. Unfortunately, the earth’s oceans are not able to meet the growing
worldwide demand for seafood. Thus, the majority of today’s existing supply of seafood is farmed. The
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and our own Departments of Commerce and
Agriculture recognize that our nation’s seafood production will need to drastically increase over the next
20 years and that aquaculture must play a major role in meeting the public’s need. Scientific evidence
supports the conclusion that aquaculture, conducted properly, is the most sustainable way to produce
animal protein for human consumption, especially marine aquaculture, which requires minimal landbased infrastructure, no fresh water, and minimal energy consumption.
The proposers of the RCF project have gone above and beyond the standard of due diligence to
scientifically evaluate the risks and benefits of the project ecologically and environmentally. They have
committed to take the best of what we collectively know today and to evolve best practices, as new
evidence and technologies become available. I truly believe that they constantly strive to set the highest
standards for minimal impact and sustainability.
Our nation is known for innovating technologies and fostering breakthrough industries that raise the
environmental bar. San Diego, where RCF is proposed to be operated, is a center for biotech, medical
research, and ocean technologies that have been employed to make this project a potential model for the
world to follow. In addition, a study conducted by the San Diego Regional Economic Development
Corporation predicts that RCF will support hundreds of good paying jobs, help our seafood industry
sustain the working waterfront, and provide millions in taxes annually. RCF is likely to be one of our
best examples of an enterprise that is economically viable and serves our public’s needs, while
respecting the environment on which we depend.
Sincerely,
Jonna A.K. Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology
Executive Director, One Health Institute