Going into debt for Fish Food

CNBC reports that $50 million from the federal stimulus package is going to subsidize fish food for aquaculture operations across the country:

The United States is about to spend $50 million on fish food.

The money included in the federal stimulus package is intended to help keep afloat an aquaculture industry already struggling from foreign competition after feed prices jumped 50 percent last year.

It could provide algae to feed clam and oyster larvae along the Pacific coast, fill the bellies of tilapia in Arizona and feed catfish, trout and gamefish in the Midwest and South. Supporters say it will help keep fish farms going in tough times and preserve jobs in areas that have been hit by the recession and lack other industries.

This isn't what I expected when they said the project was "Shovel Ready".

Of course, Congress could have provided relief to skyrocketing food prices by ending the ethanol subsidy which diverts millions of acres of arable land into corn production, causing hgiher prices for all other agricultural projects. They could remove the regulatory barriers that prevent offshore aquaculture, which provides a clean alternative to onshore fish production and would ease the pressure on wold stocks. Or they could spend more of our grandchildren's money to win over constituents. It's hardly a surprise which path they took.