southern boating

We often forget that our actions on land affect the ocean.
The effects can be positive. The introduction of alternatives
to plastic bags, for instance, help reduce the roughly 20
billion pounds of plastic that enter the ocean every year. Yet
we also continue practices on land that, unbeknownst to
most of us, greatly harm
the ocean. The destruction
largely happens out
of sight and out of
mind. Industrial animal
agriculture, for example,
is seriously impacting our
waterways and ocean,
yet few people know it.
Here are three ways that
industrial animal agriculture
and poor practices affect
the ocean.

Farm waste
To the gardener, a little
bit of manure is a natural part of the nutrient cycle. This
benefi cial view of animal waste, however, breaks down when
heavy industrial farming methods are considered. If the use
of antibiotics and hormones—which are excreted and end
up in our waterways and ocean—may be an issue, it’s the
scale on which factory farms produce animal waste that’s at
the core of the problem. Animal waste creates nitrogen that
shocks the environment, encourages disease outbreak and
the proliferation of destructive algae blooms. What is the
result of all this on the ocean? Here are a few examples from
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

• Poorly managed open-air waste lagoons, often as big
  as several football fields, are prone to leaks and spills. In

1995, an eight-acre hog waste lagoon in North Carolina

burst, spilling 25 million gallons of manure into the New

River. The spill killed about 10 million fish and closed

364,000 acres of coastal wetlands to shellfishing.

• Runoff of chicken and hog waste from factory farms
  on the East coast is believed
  to have contributed to
  outbreaks of Pfiesteria
  piscicida (a toxic algae)
  killing millions of fish and
  causing some local people
  to suffer skin irritation, short-
  term memory loss and other
  cognitive problems.
  
  
  • Nutrients in animal waste
    cause algal blooms, which
    use up oxygen in the water,
    contributing to “dead zones”
    (areas that don’t contain
    enough oxygen to support
    aquatic life) that stretch
    across the globe. The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico
    fluctuates in size each year extending a record 8,500
    square miles during the summer of 2002 and stretching
    over 7,700 square miles during the summer of 2010.
  
  
  
  


• Ammonia, a toxic form of nitrogen released in gas form
  during waste disposal, can be carried more than 300
  miles through the air before being dumped back onto the
  ground or into the water, where it causes algal blooms
  and fish kills.

The rise of sea temperature and

ocean acidification

How could heavy industrial farming in the U.S. kill

corals in the South Pacific’s Coral Sea? According to the

42 • SOUTHERNBOATING.COM • MARCH 2016

Fertilizer, pesticide and animal waste runoff seriously impact

our waterways and ocean.

SEA WATCH

LYNN BETTS USDA

THE STATE OF YOUR PLANET'S LAKES, RIVERS AND OCEANS

The effects of factory farming on the ocean

— By guest contributor Brett Garling of Mission Blue —