29 June 2004

DARDEN ANALYSIS OF CONSUMERS AND AQUACULTURE MISSES THE MARK

The analysis of a Darden Restaurants proprietary study on consumer attitudes towards aquaculture presented at AquaVision 2004 in Stavanger, Norway June 22-24 missed the mark in terms of insight into the stresses on consumer perceptions. The study, according to the Darden spokesman, looked at the decline in importance of seafood in the quick service dining industry. It found consumers are increasingly seeing aquaculture in a negative light. They are buying into the perception that farmed fish is “unhealthy,” had “lower omega-3 fatty acid levels than wild salmon,” and is raised with “pesticides.”

The Darden spokesman claimed that consumers tended to repeat charges contained in frequent news articles on the topic. According to the study, the past four years (2000-2003) saw nearly double (from 450 to 801) the negative seafood stories carried in the media. The statement made by the Darden spokesman that “Is the constant barrage of negative messages about seafood beginning to shape the opinions of our guests? We don’t know,” had to bring a degree of amusement to the environmental NGOs present. The nearly decade of well-orchestrated campaigns to alienate consumers from farmed salmon, shrimp etc. conducted by the environmental community is the answer.

EUROPEAN SALMON FARMERS CREATE UMBRELLA GROUP

The public relations “black eye” given farmed salmon by environmentalists prompted Europe’s leading salmon farmers to create that continent’s version of Salmon of the Americas (SOTA) to win back consumer confidence and create new markets throughout the European Union nations. Salmon of Europe (SOE) is the new entity that breathed its first breath June 9th. Europe’s six major salmon farmers – Nutreco, Pan Fish, Fjord Seafood, Stolt Sea Farm, Cermaq and Leroy Seafood Group – set up the organization with the intention that it tout the health benefits of farmed salmon and open new markets for the product. One of the arguments that SOE may make that will have some clout with lawmakers is the estimate of the 10,000 farmed salmon-related jobs created throughout the European Union thanks to the industry. The rally of salmon farmers on both sides of the Atlantic is testament to the success of NGO anti-aquaculture efforts. Both organizations hold the potential of improving market share of farmed salmon. However, they have little chance of their proving to be anything but a component in the successful formula for defeating NGO consumer-fear campaigns. The growing trend started in Belgium to ban sealskin imports is an example of why associations such as SOE and SOTA cannot succeed. The seal industry has all of the environmental science in its corner. NGOs have only emotion in theirs. Still the NGOs are winning. To date, no industry association has managed to counter the NGO emotions with facts.

SEAFOOD INDUSTRY CLAIMS COST OF SHRIMP WILL RISE IF TARIFFS COME

If the U.S. imposes tariffs on imported shrimp, the market demand now being experienced will crash. That’s the conclusion of two industry-commissioned reports on the effect of tariffs on the $2.4 billion worth of imported shrimp annually that are expected from the six “dumping” charges brought against China, Ecuador, Brazil, India and Thailand by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, an eight state coalition of U.S. shrimp fishermen and processors.

One report, commissioned by two industry groups: the American Seafood Distributors Association and the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, predicts the price of shrimp to rise by 44 percent. A second report prepared by The Trade Partnership foresees more drastic price increases of 84 percent as well as a drop in market demand by a third. Shrimp is currently the most popular seafood among U.S. consumers. One economic analysis of the menu offerings of 200 restaurant chains found that shrimp items increased 47 percent over the past five years.

Economic hardships wrought by the expected tariffs will affect grocers, retail seafood merchants, and the seafood restaurant industry as well as its suppliers. Members of the Southern Shrimp Alliance demanded certified copies of the reports. They dismissed the data as an attempt to scare the public.

SALMON FARMING GETS BOOST FROM CABINET MINISTER’S VOW TO FIGHT RUMOR MONGERS

Cabinet level ministers from the world’s salmon farming nations quite literally declared “war” on rumors and misleading information being spread about farmed fish. That vow and its companion, a pledge to encourage an increase in fish in the average consumer’s daily diet, came at the International Ministerial Meeting held in conjunction with AquaVision 2004 in Stavanger, Norway. Ministers from Norway, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Holland as well as a representative from the European Food Safety Authority of the European Union met to pledge cooperation and information exchange in support of the salmon farming industry.

The ministers called for swift and effective response from a network of experts to negative campaigns by NGOs aimed at upsetting consumers and damaging market share of the farmed fish.

WWF MINDS ITS MANNERS AT AQUACULTURE CONFERENCE

The public statements of WWF’s resident expert on aquaculture, Dr. Jason Clay, at AquaVision 2004 have industry news sources believing that WWF is changing its attitude towards a more positive acceptance of fish and shellfish farming. Clay assured attendees that WWF is not aiming to destroy aquaculture. He acknowledges that the environmental group sees the industry as a permanent part of the commercial seafood landscape. Ironically, Clay pointed to shrimp farming as “better than fishing” in that farmed shrimp avoided the damage done to the ocean eco-system by bottom dragging trawlers. The wealthy and influential organization wants the industry to become environmentally compatible with the principles of sustainability. The catch is that WWF wants to be the “expert” in environmental issues aquaculture consults.

It is evident to some observers that WWF is eager to position itself quickly within the aquaculture industry before the PEW Charitable Trusts usurps that position. Also in evidence is the idea that WWF is counting on the industry to forget its role in pushing during the mid 1990s for a UN declaration that shrimp farming was a threat to the environment and that organization’s continuing campaign to extract a universal environmental “tax” from shrimp farmers to fund repairs to the fish-farm damaged environment.

Sysco’s representative John Pollock offered the commonsense counter option to WWF or PEW or Earth Island Institute or any other 3rd party NGO watch dog hovering over the seafood industry. He opined to the conference audience that his company’s journey to becoming a $3 billion a year component of the seafood industry will lead to Sysco being the key seafood expert on all aspects of the business including environmental concerns for its customers. By inference, Sysco issued the challenge for other players to become environmental experts rather than rely on outside groups such as the NGO community.

21 June 2004

MAURITANIAN SEA LIFE DEATHS SUGGEST NEED FOR MARINE DETECTIVES

For three successive years, June signals the appearance of floating, lifeless bodies of marine wildlife, including whales, sea turtles and now 139 dolphins heading toward the coastline of Mauritania. Two years of research still have marine biologists puzzling over the cause as no sign of viral infection, the leading suspect in the deaths, has yet to be found.

The Atlantic waters off the coast of the African nation are considered one of the world’s most fecund concentrations of sea life. In 1989 12,000 square kilometers of Mauritania’s ocean expanse was declared a “world heritage” site and turned into Africa’s largest marine park by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Shark and ray fishermen agreed to halt fishing for those species earlier this year.

U.S. FISH STOCKS REBOUNDING

Fish stocks managed by the U.S. federal government are rebuilding, according to the Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fish Stocks (2003).

Four – blacktipped sharks, winter flounder, South Atlantic & Gulf of Mexico Yellowtail snapper – were removed from the over-fished list and placed on the “rebuilt” category. Over-fishing stopped for those stocks as well as for summer flounder, spiny dogfish, and North Atlantic swordfish. Of some 894 stocks managed by the U.S. government, 76 are on the over-fished list with most rebuilding. Only 60 of those are experiencing continued over fishing.

MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION ACT PASSES CONGRESS

The U.S. Marine Turtle Conservation Act passed its final legislative hurdle on June 18th, when the Senate unanimously passed the version earlier approved by the House of Representatives. The measure that authorizes Congress to appropriate $5 million a year from 2005 to 2009 for conservation and research of marine turtles needs only the signature of President George W. Bush to become law.

The measure has the support of influential Republican legislators ranging from House Interior Committee Chairman Richard Pombo to Senator James Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works all but insuring the Chief Executive’s signature.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND FISHERMEN CLASH IN COURT OVER GALAPAGOS SEA CUCUMBERS

Galapagos Island fishermen protested the heavy handed, environmentalist inspired regulations limited their rights to gather sea cucumbers and won an initial court victory. New regulations imposing a 60-day fishing season and 4 million sea cucumber harvest limit for 2004 and total fishing bans for 2005 and 2006 were struck down by an Ecuadorian judge as unfair to the livelihoods of the local fishing community. The judge ruled that new regulations taking into consideration the fishermen’s right to earn a living must be formulated.

Ironically, environmental groups who use the same litigation techniques throughout the world to upset regulations imposed by government management authorities protested the court ruling claiming “any interest group could try to use a similar method to claim its rights or alter decisions taken by the management authorities.” The next time an NGO threatens to take the U.S. Interior Department or NOAA Fisheries/National Marine Fisheries Service to court they should resurrect this quote from the Ecuadorian NGO Fundacion Natura.

16 June 2004

HOT LOBSTERS EQUAL NET LOSS OF $7.4 MILLION

Prepared in Manhattan’s finest restaurants a meal of South African rock lobster tail or Chilean sea bass is the sign of the good life. For three men who spent the past 15 years bringing the delicacies into the United States, those culinary delicacies provided millions of dollars that paid the bills for a very good life, except for one thing. They were brought into the country illegally. Now those men face years in prison and the loss of $7.4 million in cash and ownership of a lucrative fish processing plant.

Arnold Maurice Bengis, his son David Bengis, and Jeffery Noll were sentenced last month by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan for smuggling the seafood, conspiracy, and violating domestic and international wildlife laws. The elder Bengis and Noll were ordered to surrender $5.9 million to the government. David Bengis lost his $1.5 million fish processing plant. Judge Kaplan handed out jail terms of three years and ten months to Arnold Bengis, one year to David Bengis, and two years six months to Noll.

The conviction stems from the seizure of a container of Chilean sea bass by South African Authorities in May 2001 and the subsequent seizure the next month in Newark, New Jersey of a container filled with 40,000 pounds of the fish and 15,000 pounds of lobster valued at $460,000. After the seizures, the men continued to smuggle illegal fish via elaborate global shipping schemes.

PERFORMING DOLPHINS TEACH LESSONS ABOUT THE WILD/DEADZONES

Dolphins at the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi are more than crowd pleasers during show time. They are helping researchers learn to safeguard the health of captive dolphins and to learn more about dolphin behavior in the wild.

The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (a non-profit related to Marine Life) in partnership with a variety of Universities is involved in some 20 dolphin studies. Among them are parenting techniques and the habitat and survival of wild dolphins in the Mississippi Sound.

The Sound is key to Mississippi’s seafood and tourist industry. Researchers are studying the dolphins as beacons warning of the health of the Sound. Their fear is that pollution such as caused the 8,500 square mile “Dead Zone” west of the mouth of the River caused by farm runoff and other pollutants.

FARMED COD HOT TOPIC, LUKEWARM NGO RECEPTION

With scientists from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) issuing gloom laden warnings about declining cod stocks and recommendations on cod fishing moratoriums in three European cod fishing areas, cod farming is becoming an increasingly important topic albeit one that has not even approached its income potential. To date not a single facility of Norway’s 589 cod farm licensees has turned the first profit. Supply, quality and price are the major areas that need to be stabilized before farmed cod becomes a European consumer staple.

Nevertheless, WWF gave cod farming a conditional nod of approval. WWF warns cod farming interests to avoid fish escaping from pens and mingling or competing with wild stocks, diseases associated with intensive overcrowding, and contamination from a variety of substances including PCBs and dioxin.

15 June 2004

SMITHSONIAN & NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: BAROMETERS ON CONSUMER SEAFOOD CAMPAIGNS

Consumer seafood choices are being influenced from multiple sources via a variety of different methods. The latest literature urging consumers to make seafood choices in keeping with agenda issues of the on-going NGO-inspired campaigns is the June 2004 issue of National Geographic Magazine. In an inviting one-page layout entitled “My Seven” Smithsonian Marine Biologist, Carole Baldwin lists seven recommendations for seafood purchasers designed to reduce waste and protect ailing stocks.

The Chilean Seabass issue is first on the agenda. The species is classified as “overfished” and “often the victims of poaching.” Sablefish from the “well-managed” Northwestern fisheries of Alaska and Canada is preferred. Next up is a slam at farmed imported shrimp. A classic fear-instilling technique is used to push domestic wild caught versus foreign farmed shrimp, namely the claim that “some” overseas farmers treat their stock with chloramphnicol, an antibiotic. Next is orange roughy versus mahimahi. Mahimahi wins over the centarian opposition by virtue of its faster growth cycle.

Fourth is Bluefin tuna versus yellowfin. Using another classic statistical device, going back in time to create the desired perception, Baldwin says the bluefin harvest declined 93 percent since 1963. Comparing his year to last year’s bluefin imports to the U.S. market alone sees a doubling, not decline, in bluefin production. A caveat about yellowfin is to avoid longline caught specimens in keeping with the NGO condemnation of longline fisheries (again despite vast strides NOAA Fisheries has made in eliminating seaturtle bycatch). Farmed salmon is slammed because “crowed salmon farms can breed disease and pollute coastal waters” (“can” is not the same as “do”). Farmed shellfish get the nod versus dredged wild oysters and clams. Finally farmed catfish are deemed preferable to grouper…an interesting comparison in itself.

Is there a connection linking Smithsonian and National Geographic? Try the PEW Charitable Trusts. PEW has financed inter-museum collection loans since 1988 and financed the National Geographic TV special “In Pursuit of the Giant Bluefin Tuna.”

MSC CERTIFICATION BID FOR ALASKAN POLLOCK FISHERY DEMONSTRATES FLAWS IN NGO ECO-LABELING

Outgoing CEO of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Brendan May is elated that the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Alaskan pollock fishery has passed initial muster for MSC certification as an environmentally sustainable fishery. That elation may be a bit of bravado in part over the half million-dollar assessment fee collected, in part over what may be his last hurrah (and a bit of nose thumbing) at NGO’s critical of May’s leadership.

The potential certification of the Alaskan pollock fishery demonstrates the struggle between PEW Charitable Trusts and the WWF over the position of “Pope” of the NGO community. WWF has long ruled the roost as the most influential NGO. It created MSC and holds high respect among international environmental organizations including the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The National Environmental Trust, a PEW-created NGO and member of the MSC Stakeholder’s Council, orchestrated May’s imminent departure. NET is outspoken in its objection to MSC certification of the pollock fishery alleging major negative effects on the Alaskan environment and on Stellar Sea lions and ocean corals in specific.

Commercial seafood ventures and fisheries that capitulate to NGO eco-labels are not protected from further NGO harassment. What they are guaranteed is a stout outlay of cash and a logo that may or may not mean anything to consumers.

WWF, BRIT GROUP WANT $14 BILLION SPENT ON MARINE PARKS WORLDWIDE.

WWF and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds want the world to spend between US$12 and $14 billion a year to set aside 20 to 30 percent of the world’s Oceans as marine parks. The payout, according to the NGOs, would be a 20 percent increase in commercial fishery production. In the jointly authored report “Worldwide Costs of Protected Marine Areas” the groups urge shifting the $15 to $30 billion in fishery subsidies to marine area protection. They say fishing production doubles for fisheries around the outskirts of the protected areas.

They didn’t say what percentage of the fishery catch would be eliminated by banning fishing in the areas proposed as protected “parks.” For example, if fishing around the protected areas began at 10 percent of the original fishery harvest and it doubled to 20 percent what is the gain if the area banned from fishing traditionally provided the remaining 80 percent?

U.S. CONSUMERS FEAST BEFORE THE SHRIMP FAMINE

The bid to shut U.S. market doors to foreign imported shrimp may prove an ironic death knell for U.S. shrimpers, banned together as the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA). Anticipating stout tariff levies on their wares due to the anti-dumping suit brought by SSA, off-shore shrimp sources raced to get as much product as they could on U.S. soil during the first three months of 2004. The February ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission that foreign shrimp was causing a hardship to the U.S. shrimp industry promises a final decision (expected in July) to impose some $2.4 billion in tariffs retroactive to 90 days from the decision. To avoid paying the anticipated fees, importers found shrimp supplies cut by as much as 52 percent after seeing imports rise by more than 60 percent in 2003.

Come the final decision on the tariff and U.S. shrimpers will find themselves with overpriced product, few small processing plants (closed due to the tariff war), and declining consumer demand do to the rising price.

9 June 2004

WWF WEIGHS IN AGAINST TUNA RANCHING SUBSIDIES AND MISLEADING RHETORIC

Bluefin tuna ranching, the practice of capturing younger fish and penning them until they reach optimum market weight, is once again under attack by the WWF, the worldwide environmental group that alleges European Union subsidies for the practice are threatening wild tuna stocks.

WWF claims the practice is unsustainable and is depleting wild bluefin stocks. Bluefin tuna farming operations are presently conducted in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus and Croatia.

The attack on fishing subsidies is part of a larger effort by WWF to convince the World Trade Organization (WTO) to rule against financial shoring up of wild caught fisheries. More than a bit of NGO advocacy speak permeates the WWF campaign. WWF claims that 75 percent of “the world’s major fisheries are either depleted or fished to the brink.”

That is technically accurate but intentionally misleading. Twenty five percent of the world’s fish stocks are under exploited. The remaining 75 percent are fully exploited, over exploited or depleted. According to FAO figures 47 percent are fully exploited. Only 10 percent are depleted and 18 percent are overfished. WWF’s careful juxtaposition of words makes the casual reader believe the majority of fish species are threatened when only 28 percent are over fished or exploited.

ENVIRONMENAL GROUPS REPEAT CRY TO END OCEAN TRAWLING

A group of leading environmental NGOs calling themselves the “Deep Sea Conservation Coalition” is ramping up the rhetoric against ocean bottom trawl fisheries. The protest and the coalition formation were created to coincide with a weeklong conference on deep sea conservation being held at UN Headquarters in New York.

Claiming unknown devastation to as yet undiscovered marine life could end benefits to humankind as yet undeveloped, the group demanded the United Nations act immediately to halt all Ocean bottom trawling. The group cited specifically the bottom trawl fleets operated by Spain, Russia, Portugal, Norway, Estonia, Denmark, Japan, Lithuania, Iceland, New Zealand and Latvia.

IUCN-World Conservation Union, Greenpeace, WWF, Oceana, the Marine Conservation Biology Institute and Conservation International are the groups behind the protest.

A “STUDY” OF WHAT MIGHT BE IF GM SALMON ARE SAID TO BEAT WILD SALMON TO “LIMITED” FOOD.

The hatred toward genetically engineered organisms held by anti-biotech groups has led to the somewhat premature study of a possible scenario of GM salmon competing with wild salmon for “limited food” supplies. Coho salmon altered with the genes of faster growing salmon were pitted by Canada’s Oceans and Fisheries researchers to determine which would hog the most food in a “limited food” availability. The larger fish won. In an overcrowded tank, the heavier GM fish ate smaller GM fish. What does this prove? Big fish beat little fish to food every time.

Anti-biotech NGOs cite this and other work as evidence that GM fish loosed on the wild would cause devastating effects particularly when in competition with native species. Canadian scientists who bred the GM coho salmon have not intention of freeing their creations for commercial ventures. The only other source of genetically modified salmon, Aqua Bounty Farms, has a growth enhanced Atlantic salmon. If the group ever does receive permission to raise their fish commercially, only sterile females will be grown.

RISING ANIMAL FEED COSTS THREATEN VIABILITY OF VIETNAMESE AQUACULTURE

Shrimp feed in Vietnam has risen in cost from VND11,000 to VND 16,000 since December. The higher costs across the board for animal feed is driving Vietnamese workers to leave agriculture and aquaculture due to ever narrowing profit margins. Cost increases are due to price jumps in soybeans, corn, gluten etc. The 20 to 30 percent spike in fish feed is causing a real hardship among that country’s shrimp farmers.

4 June 2004

WHITE SPOT VIRUS SPREADING IN MEXICAN SHRIMP FARMS

Mexican shrimp farmers may have temporarily dodged the anti-dumping bullet being aimed at exporters of shrimp to the U.S. only to find nature firing a lethal round at its shrimp production facilities. White spot virus is spreading throughout Mexico’s shrimp aquaculture regions. First seen in the northern section of the Mexican state of Sinola, the virus traveled up the coast to the southern region of Sonora. At present only two farms in both areas are affected. Some 13,000 hectares in Sonora and 15,000 hectares in Sinola are sites for shrimp farming. The two infected farms barely total 200 hectares. However, the presence of the virus makes aquaculture expansion in the region questionable.

WHITING MAY REPLACE COD AS FODDER FOR CHINESE PROCESSORS

Chinese processors seeking abundant white-fleshed fish for fillets, fish sticks and surimi are looking to blue whiting to replace dwindling supplies of Russian and Nordic caught cod and haddock. Frozen cod exports from Norway to China dropped by 1700 tons for the first four months of last year compared to the same period for this year. Expectations of nearly 3000 tons of Danish caught cod turned into barely 100 tons delivered thus far this year.

To date the majority of blue whiting (2.3 million tons) was transformed into fishmeal and oil. Holland is the major source of the fish sent to China for human consumption.

CANADIAN STUDY URGES CONTAMINANT MONITORING FOR ST. LAWRENCE RIVER SHELLFISH

The trend of studying seafood for contaminants hit shellfish, in specific soft-shelled clams, taken from the lower estuary of the St. Lawrence River. The Canadian study looked for ten metals, 22 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), 14 polychlorinated byphenyls (PBC) and 10 chlorinated pesticides. Finding contaminants in bivalves isn’t difficult. They are nature’s water cleaners taking impurities in and leaving expelled water in a “laundered” state. The most consumed shellfish variety, the soft-shelled clam, proved a trove of contaminants including toxic inorganic arsenic. (Most arsenic found in shellfish is harmless organic arsenic.)

As with most seafood trace amounts of contaminants are commonplace particularly with the cavalier treatment of the world’s oceans, rivers and estuaries as dumping grounds for unwanted refuse. Not surprisingly, the researchers found 36 of the 56 target compounds in the clam meat. The dosage of each, however, failed to exceed the “main exposure limit recommendations proposed to prevent noncancer effects” (research speak for the trace amounts fall within safe levels). The researchers warned that consumptions of significant quantities of the clams by smokers could enhance the possibility of lung cancer. The study’s conclusions were that more studies are needed and that a contaminant monitoring system might be implemented that in turn might create a guide for local shellfish consumption.

GREENS HIT MSC BACKING OF NEW ZEALAND HOKI FISHERY

Cutting the hoki harvest from 200,000 to 180,000 tons is proof that the New Zealand fishery does not merit the eco-friendly certification issued by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), according to the local environmental group “Forest and Bird.” The green group has long criticized MSC for declaring the hoki fishery “environmentally sustainable” in May 2001. For some 15 years, the hoki catch has been at least 200,000 tons. Forest and Bird suggests next year’s catch will hit a new low of barely 100,000 tons.

VEGAN NGOs BACKED ANTI-ADKIN’S DIET SUIT: A MODEL FOR FISH, DAIRY, MEAT AND POULTRY INDUSTRIES

If any sector of the U.S. food industry thinks it is immune to the assaults of the animal rights and environmental organization’s crusade to place humanity on a strictly vegan diet, the current legal action brought against Atkins Inc., the company behind the high fat, high protein weight loss plan, should provide a wake-up call.

Jody Gorran of Delray Beach, Florida is suing the Atkins diet group claiming he fell victim to heart disease and clogged arteries by following the low carb Atkins diet. Financing the legal challenge is the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), described by NGO watchers as a spin-off of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The PETA/PCRM axis is run by two of the acknowledged luminaries in the entire NGO movement, Ingrid Newkirk and Dr. Neal Barnard, reputed to be Newkirk’s “life partner.”

PETA is often laughed at in the popular press because of its outlandish antics (designed primarily to get the group’s name mentioned in the press). However, within the NGO community, PETA is seen as the evangelizing precursor of the rest of the pack, creating precedents others emulate. Whether the approach is suing a company like Atkins or invading the inner sanctum of a conglomerate’s shareholder’s meetings, PETA tends to lead the way. Today the target is meat. Tomorrow it might be lobster, shrimp, salmon, veal, milk, ice cream, bread, chicken, bacon or ham.

26 April 2004

PROTECTING DRINKING WATER: BIOTECH OR MINNOWS, DAPHNIA, OR RAINBOW TROUT?

The climate of apprehension over the world’s inability to resolve conflicts short of violent acts by ideologues (espousing any number of causes whether real or imagined) is spawning a media hunger for any story associated with ways to thwart “terrorist” acts of aggression. That Rome’s drinking water authority is using fresh-water trout as an early warning device against deliberately or accidentally contaminated water is titillating the media throughout Europe. In the United States high tech security firms are pushing glow-in-the-dark ocean-dwelling bacteria (Vibrio fischeri) as toxin detectors. Whether the method of measuring toxicity in fresh or marine waters involves biotech bacteria or more familiar organisms such as trout, minnows or shrimp the process is the same. If a toxin – from cadmium to cyanide – is present, the monitoring species sickens and dies.

Using such living “devices” as warning measures is not new. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its manual for “measuring the acute toxicity of effluents and receiving waters to freshwater and marine organisms” in 2002. That manual details the use of Daphnia, a small crustacean nearly impossible to see with the human eye. The ten most commonly used bio-indicators include Ceriodaphnia dubia, Daphnia magna, Daphnia pulex, brine shrimp/Artemia salina, fathead minnows, rainbow trout, brook trout, mysids, bannerfish shiners, sheepshead minnows and silversides.

Strategic Diagnostics Inc. of Newark, New Jersey markets the Microtox detector that screens for microorganisms such as salmonella and chemical poisons. Various configurations of the Microtox sell for between $7000 and $18000 each. Other companies sell variations on the theme. Business is booming and the potential is large as there are some 165,000 public water utilities and 16,000 public wastewater facilities in the United States alone.

CONSTITUTIONAL BATTLE LOOMS OVER LOUISIANA’S LAWS FORBIDDING NON-NATIVE DESCRIPTORS

U.S. catfish producers won a battle of sorts when it nudged Congress into declaring only Ictalurid species could be marketed in the United States as “catfish.” That put a damper on local processors peddling Vietnam’s homegrown variants on the tasty down-home delicacy. Enter China and its penchant for producing virtually anything the U.S. market might desire. Chinese entrepreneurs are now growing U.S. ictalurid “catfish” and shipping them back to the U.S. New Orleans’ own Piazza’s Seafood World, in turn, labeled the product “Cajun Boy” catfish in keeping with U.S. law. Louisiana has its own statutes that declare any non-Louisiana product bearing the name “Cajun” or “Creole” illegal. The Louisiana Agriculture Department seized half a million Chinese catfish last month declaring them mislabeled. The legal fight between the seafood company and the State of Louisiana over the constitutional merits of the state’s outlawing a trademark has just begun.

24 April 2004

MSC ECO-LABEL DUMPS GERMAN FIRM DEEP IN THE RED

The highly touted claim that seafood certified as environmentally friendly would boost profits and attract the “informed consumer” may be a hollow marketing ploy or simply a concept out of step with time and consumer interest.

Fisheries and seafood interests seeking to increase market share by securing Eco-labels, particularly the NGO-issued certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) saw one of their ranks suffer unintended negative financial consequences after a year of attempting to market MSC-approved seafood only. Germany’s new Frosta brand of frozen seafood plummeted from pre-MSC label sales of US$84 million in 2002 to US$48 million for 2003 with the company’s hopes riding on its MSC-only brand line focusing on MSC-approved New Zealand hoki and wild Alaska salmon.

High costs to the company and consumers as well as consumer disinterest in the MSC-ecolabel are blamed for the profit drop.

Meanwhile MSC is scouting for a new chief executive to replace Brendan May, forced from his post by rebellious American NGO members of its “stakeholder council,” most notably those with direct ties to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Perhaps as an indication of the importance of placating the more extreme NGO stakeholders on its board, the MSC solicitation advertisement positions “advance its cause to a wide variety of stakeholders.”

Other qualifications speak to compatibility with the MSC board of directors, managing MSC’s executive team, overseeing fundraising, communicating with governments, and administering an “environmentally focused” charity. Marshalling “consumer purchasing power,” the prime cause of the downfall of Frosta AG’s profits, is mentioned only in the preamble of the ad.

PRESIDENTIAL OCEAN COMMISSION PRESSES FOR PEW GOALS: USER PAY POLLUTION CLEAN-UP TAX AND CABINET LEVEL OCEANS POLICY OFFICE.

A special fund to protect the oceans from exploitation and pollution is one of the recommendations made by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Deep in the 500-page draft report on the presidential panel’s two and half-year study of ocean-related problems dwells a plea for an “Ocean Policy Trust Fund.” The trust fund would receive 80 percent of the US$5 billion in revenues paid in bonus bid and royalty payments to the government by offshore oil and gas interests. That and the recommendation for a Cabinet-level National Ocean Council as well as a panel of Presidential Advisors on Ocean Policy mirrored the PEW Oceans Commission findings that go a step farther in calling for similar ocean bureaucracies throughout state governments.

NGOs have long sought “polluter-pays” trust funds paid into by economic sectors deemed environmentally unfriendly by the NGO community. One such “Tax” is aimed at shrimp farmers. NGOs such as PEW, WWF, Greenpeace, Earth Island Institute, and Natural Resources Defense Council have long positioned themselves, either via the creation of ocean-oriented NGO spin-offs, projects and papers, or funding of academics to move quickly into roles as ocean policy advisors.

PHILLIPS SEAFOOD DODGES CONSUMER GROUP’S LEGAL BULLET

Phillips Seafood - long synonymous with Maryland crab cakes, Baltimore dining and Ocean City vacations – managed to elude a legal bullet fired by an irate consumer group, the “Made in the USA Foundation, that claimed its crab cakes are imported from Asia.

The foundation’s chief executive, lawyer Joel Joseph took Phillips to court over its “made in the USA” claim for crab cakes served to Maryland diners made from imported crabmeat. Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay are the regions most heavily identified with blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus – beautiful, savory swimmer) although Virginia, North Carolina and Louisiana are prodigious producers. The blue crab’s original range – throughout the east coast has expanded globally over the decades. Abundant blue crab fisheries now operate out of Thailand, the Philippines, China and elsewhere: same crab or a close cousin, different waters.

In 2000, U.S. crabmeat processors and watermen petitioned the International Trade Commission hoping to stop imported crabmeat from entering the U.S. Between 1994 and 1999, imports from Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia dropped the U.S. crabber’s market share of the U.S. market from 67 to 27 percent. That bid failed by a vote of 4-2.

“Made in the USA” sued under the Lanham Act for misrepresenting point of origin of the desirable consumer product was told by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that only competitors could sue under the Lanham Act. Consumers had no standing.

With today’s U.S. seafood industry a global affair, technically, Phillips could have argued that its crab cakes are “made” or prepared in the USA. Only their ingredients are not.

9 April 2004

NGOs READY TO SPEND TAXPAYER MONEY TO BUY UP CALIFORNIA FISHING RIGHTS

Take the PEW Charitable Trusts’ report on the condition of the world’s oceans, a seemingly innocent voter initiative touted by sponsors as aimed at protecting coastlines, wetlands and estuaries and mix in NGO resolve to run commercial fisheries from the surface of the ocean. The result is the convergence of orchestrated circumstances that promise to fulfill the NGO objective using taxpayer money.

The PEW Oceans Commission recommended barring human and commercial activities from more and more stretches of ocean. It also urged a cabinet level ocean council to deal with national and state sea rights. Leading the NGO advance forces, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Oceans Conservancy are pushing for the creation of an Ocean Protection Council within the California state government and use of $3.44 billion in tax money under Proposition 50 to buy up fishing boats, fishing permits, and oil leases as well as “underwater land rights” to keep commercial fisheries and oil companies away from prime fish habitat.

The move appears to have jostled the state’s recreational fishermen awake and alert to the possibility (read: probability) of their proposals keeping them from fishing grounds too.

WILL CONCRETE KEEP FARMED SALMON HOME?

Pending the conclusion of a review by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, concrete may replace netting as containment material for farmed salmon in British Columbia. A fish farm of enclosed concrete is the objective of a partnership, named Middle Bay Partnership, formed among AgriMarine Industries, Inc., Brunan Holdings Ltd., and Gensk Holdings Ltd. Unless the salmon have jack hammers, escape is unlikely. More to the point of protecting the environment, the system is said to have a self-contained waste collection system.

A land-based pilot project consisted of eight circular concrete tanks 48 feet wide and 18 feet deep holding 750,000 liters of water each. Production limits (350 metric tons) and water transport costs ($5000 per month) made the project too financially inefficient for commercial use. If the partnership can raise sufficient funds, they hope to have eight to ten tanks floating in the water and producing 4500 metric tons with water flow costs cut to $400 to $500 per month. The idea of floating concrete might seem counter-intuitive to some but concrete sailing vessels have been popular for decades.

FISH: A BOON OR BUST TO BRAIN FUNCTION/DEVELOPMENT

Just as the results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 1999 and 2000 were released suggesting some 1700 women and more than 300,000 newborns may have elevated trace levels of mercury in the blood from maternal fish consumption; research from the Netherlands points to consumption of the same fish types as important to improve brain function in middle aged people and lower risk of mental impairment.

Research from the Utrecht and Maastricht Universities looked at 1600 Dutch men and women between the ages of 45 and 70. Consumption of two essential omega-3 fatty acids: EPA (eicosapenthaenoic acid) and DHA (docossahexaenoic acid) from fatty fish such as tuna over a six-year period scored higher on tests for memory, psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility and overall cognition. The very fish U.S. authorities are warning consumers to consume in moderation – tuna, salmon – have the highest levels of Omega-3 DHA.

DUPONT LOOKS TO BRAZIL TO HELP STOP SHRIMP VIRUS

DuPont, the Delaware-based corporation, whose motto is “The Miracle of Science” is focusing its chemical mixing know-how on preventing and controlling virus among Brazil’s shrimp farm industry. That country’s northeast region produces 95 percent of its farmed shrimp worth US$214.7 million last year. Brazil’s growing hog and poultry businesses promise two potential and potentially lucrative markets for its expertise.

The importance of DuPont’s intervention in Brazilian shrimp farming affairs became apparent after a shipment of Brazilian shrimp to Portugal was found to be contaminated with the Vibrio prahaemolyticus virus.

ORGANIC FISH FARM RULES READY IN DENMARK

Farmed fish may soon wear Denmark’s red label designation that they are organically raised. The new rules, said to go into effect this month, will be the jumping off point for negotiations among European Union officials over the possible crafting of “organic” regulations common to all EU member nations. At present, the EU sets the rules for organic farming but not fish farming.

5 April 2004

UK JOINS PACT TO PROTECT SEABIRDS FROM LONGLINE HOOKS

Environmental news headlines are grudgingly congratulating the United Kingdom for agreeing to “join an international move” to protect albatross species in the southern hemisphere. Pressure by the UK’s Environmental Minister Elliott Morely appears to have broken a hesitance to join the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP), an agreement under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as the Bonn Convention).

If fishermen worldwide are confused over the various international agreements on conserving various fish and non-fish species that have a direct impact on their livelihoods there exists plenty of reason for that state of mind. ACAP, little more than a document since its inception in June 2001, only came into force with the ratification of five nations this past February 1, 2004. Those nations are Australia, the home of the ACAP Secretariat, New Zealand, Ecuador, Spain and the Republic of South Africa. Six more are expected to join: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Peru, and the UK.

The sense of redundancy and confusion rests in the already existing International Plan of Action for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries developed November 1999 by the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO). Nations such as the United States that are not party to the Bonn Convention are members of FAO and many, the US included, already have National Plans of Action to protect seabirds. Those national plans support yet another international agreement, the FAO’s International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries that addresses virtually every type fishery and their practices.

CALIFORNIA PROP 65 SUIT SETTLEMENT TO BRING MORE CASH TO NGOs

California’s Proposition 65, also known as the state’s environmental bounty hunter law, is quite a bit more than an irritant to the variety of industries reliant upon nature’s resources as grocery and restaurant chains serving certain seafood are about to discover. News reports of preliminary settlement negotiations to end legal action under Prop 65 suggest some 16-restaurant chains operating in California can expect to dole out hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines in order to bring the suit to a resolution. Under Prop 65, officially the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commercial interests are required to post signs to warn consumers that products being sold contain one or more substances listed on the Prop 65 tally of toxic chemicals. An highly questionable study linking mercury in seafood to human health ills was enough to bring seafood ventures afoul of the law.

Two separate actions brought to the attention of the California Attorney General’s office targeted seven grocery chains that sold seafood and 16 popular seafood restaurants. The suits were combined last year. Warning signs in the establishments named urge pregnant women, women of child-bearing age, and women who may be expecting to avoid swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish. In view of the potential $2500 per day per exposure that is retroactive to years past fine system under Proposition 65, a settlement of a few hundred thousand dollars per establishment seems inexpensive. Potential fines for every violation could reach tens of millions of dollars per grocery and restaurant chain.

As word of a potential settlement on the swordfish and mercury issue starts to leak out, the specter of renewed Prop 65 mischief over PCBs and salmon are beginning to strike home. The Environmental Working Group’s controversial study on PCBs in farmed salmon, compounded by a similar study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, is the basis for new legal action announced in January will include salmon producers as well as restaurants and grocers in California. McDonalds and Burger King also face suits by NGOs over acrylamide in fried foods.

Proposition 65 is a legal cash cow for NGO activists. The As You Sow Foundation, co-author with Sea Turtle Restoration Project in the Swordfish/Mercury suit earned $867,770 through 18 settlements in 2000 and 2001 alone. The Center for Environmental Health, the partner with the Environmental Working Group in the upcoming salmon suits brought in $856,050 during that same period. But, Prop 65 is not the object of NGO actions against marine and terrestrial resource users. It’s only a tool in their arsenal for driving complacent industries to submission. Ultimately, the activist NGO community hopes to dictate, for a much heftier price, the way industry dependent upon natural resources conducts its business globally.

31 March 2004

DOES THE U.S. NEED A “CLEAN OCEANS ACT”?

The title of the legislative proposal being pushed by a coalition of NGOs might be the “Clean Oceans Act of 2004.” Actually the topic of the NGO-driven “Blue Vision Conference” slated for July 11-12 with the 13th scheduled for a lobby Congress day in Washington DC will be the need for an “American Oceans Act.” Appending the word “Clean” to the measure may be a formality. The legislation being proposed would be the latest piece of environmental law for environmental groups to use against industries and interests they deem contrary to the environmental community’s agenda.

The event is sponsored by a coalition of environmental NGOs including – Blue Frontier Campaign, Coast Alliance, Surfrider Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Reef Relief, Clean Ocean Action, Littoral Society, Waterkeepers, The Ocean Conservancy, California Coastal Commission, Clean Beaches Council, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Aquarium of the Pacific, Greenpeace, Environmental Defense, Turtle Island, and U.S. PIRG. Even Legal Seafood is said to be a participant. Many of those participants are known for their highly litigious approach to environmental issues.

SNOW CRAB MOVING INTO BERENTS SEA

Since the first snow crab was captured in the Barents Sea last year, evidence of a major population presence has been rolling in. Marine biologists in Norway and Russia are concerned the crab species will establish a huge new presence much like the King Crab. Forty years ago, the same could be said of the Kin Crab. Both are not native to the area. To date no one knows if the snow crab’s presence is accidental, a natural migration or the deliberate attempt of starting a new fishery for the area.

FARMED FISH SEE HITS AND MISSES

Fledgling aquaculture ventures involving species other than shrimp and salmon are seeing some species rising in terms of production figures while others decline. For example, Norwegian farmed halibut is expecting a steady growth: 700 to 800 tons for 2004 with some 1000 tons predicted by next year. On the down side the number of halibut ranching outfits dropped from 14 to eight. Farmed cod, on the other hand, saw a significant drop in prices and production.

23 March 2004

U.S. DUMPING PROCESS CAUSES THAI SHRIMP PRODUCTION NOSE DIVE

Thailand’s shrimp farmers expect to lose between three quarters and one and a third million U.S. dollars in trade this year due to the anti-dumping charges brought to the US. International Trade Commission by the U.S. wild-caught shrimp industry. Thai shrimp exports to the United States could drop by more than half from 140,000 tons last year to barely 60,000 tons this year.

The Thai Marine Shrimp Farmers Association is pessimistic that their industry will escape economically devastating tariff impositions if the U.S. rules against shrimp farming nations. A decision by the ITC is expected by the first week in June this year. Punitive tariffs as high as 349 percent could be imposed.

PEW-PAID RESEARCH AGAINST FARM SALMON PROMISES TO KEEP ON “GIVING”

The emerging role of the Pew Charitable Trusts as a major influence in the struggle between environmental NGOs and commercial seafood interests was made evident by its commissioning the highly controversial study on dioxins and farmed salmon this January. From Seafood Industry press reports, the funding provided by PEW for the initial study has become the “gift that keeps on giving” much to the chagrin of the farmed salmon industry.

The author of the dioxin study, State University of New York at Albany Researcher John Carpenter, told IntraFish his team is planning to release a number of negative papers derived from the research on dioxins. The first he is shopping to the publication Environmental Science and Technology deals with the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), chemicals used as flame-retardants, in farmed salmon. And the assault by the PEW-funded research group will not end there. Altogether some 50 toxic metals and chemicals were studied in farmed fish thanks to the PEW funds.

None of these research findings are new. Studies commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation in Vancouver, Canada, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in the U.S. and others in Europe all found levels of dioxins, PBDEs, and other contaminants in salmon. As many other scientists point out, there is a world of difference between trace amounts and toxic doses. The prime example is the 1000 plus cancer-causing compounds present in trace amounts of a cup of coffee.

FDA & EPA RESOLVE CONTROVERSY OVER DIFFERING MERCURY ADVISORIES FOR SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION

Irked by the continual hectoring by environmental NGOs over the distinct advisories regarding consumer consumption of seafood with trace amounts of mercury, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a joint advisory on the topic this past Friday.

The new joint advisory supercedes any previously issued by each agency. In essence, it restates the “advice” to women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers and caretakers of small children to reduce exposure to mercury and its various compounds found in shellfish and fish. The communiqué acknowledges the health benefits of seafood while issuing a list of recommendations for the target groups. Those recommendations suggest they avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish because of high statistical measures of mercury; consuming 12 ounces split between two meals of fish and shellfish that rated lower on the mercury list; and keeping aware of local advisories on fish wild caught from local bodies of water.

The levels of mercury upon which the advisory based its recommendations are contained in some 96 pages of data published by FDA. Approximately 20 pages deal with swordfish tests. The mercury compound measured in parts per million in each species fluctuates wildly. In swordfish the low figures go from 0.00 ppm to 0.083 to a high of 3.2 ppm. Most hovered from 0.5 to 1 ppm. The advisory bases its negative decision on shark, swordfish etc. on statistical averages taken from tests over a period of years.

The fluctuations in virtually all of the “high mercury” fish species raise a number of questions. In general questions that seek to be answered center on the influence of circumstance on mercury. For instance, does the time of year the fish are caught play any role in the concentration of the metal found? What about the geographic location from which the fish was taken? What about the sex of the fish? What about its size and weight?

EU SETS PACT TO REQUIRE PINGERS THEN BAN BALTIC DRIFTNETS BY 2008

European Union adopted a plan to reduce Baltic harbor porpoises and dolphins by tightening regulations governing the use of drift nets in the Baltic Sea. A total ban on driftnets in the Baltic slated for 2008 was adopted. Specific measures in the regulations reduced drift net usage by 40 percent in 2005 and 20 percent in both 2006 and 2007. Only 200 vessels are authorized to use driftnets in the Baltic today.

Fishermen will have to outfit their nets with acoustic “pingers” to warn off small cetaceans. The start date for pinger use is 2005 for the North and Baltic Seas; 2006 in the Celtic Sea and Western Channel, and 2007 in the eastern Channel. Vessels 12 meters or less in length are exempt.

12 March 2004

ORGANIC SALMON POSES REAL THREAT TO NGO ANTI-FARMED SALMON CRUSADE

Mass production of farmed “organic” salmon as proposed by Canada-based Heritage Salmon Ltd. poses a bit of a dilemma for the anti-farmed salmon campaign being conducted by members of the NGO community.

Heritage is poised to announce its entry into the organic seafood market with a fish raised in Chile and certified organic by Germany’s Naturland organization. Naturland is recognized by US Department of Agriculture as a legitimate certifying agency. The newly certified fish will be seeking retailers at the upcoming Boston Seafood Show. Heritage expects to harvest 1000 tons starting mid summer of 2004 with production tripled within a year. They also hope to bring the lower density technique to North America.

The premium priced fish will either have NGO strategists mulling over where the “organically grown” salmon fits into their blanket condemnation of farmed fish. In all likelihood they will simply ignore it and continue to vilify all salmon farming.

FISH MCDIPPERS HAS U.S. POLLOCK FISHERY’S FINGERS CROSSED

McDonalds’ Fish McDipper is trying to do for pollock what its McNuggets have done for chicken. The newest product rollout last week in Japan has U.S. pollock fishers giddy with hope. McDonalds wants the bite-sized breaded and fried squares of pollock to turn around negative profits posted for their Japanese outlets. Alaska’s pollock fishery sees consumer acceptance as the key to jumpstarting stagnant market interest in the white fish. The debut of the Fish McDipper saw 10,000 metric tons of the fish shipped to the restaurant’s Japanese operations. Japan is the company’s largest non-U.S. market.

MSC GETS ROYAL SUPPORT, OFFERS CASH INCENTIVES AND LOSES ITS CEO

In a display of political back scratching, England’s Prince Charles addressed the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) “Sea into the Future” dinner and voiced resounding support for the NGO-seafood certification organization. The Prince’s endorsement comes on the heels of what can only be termed an attempted takeover of the company by a new alliance of NGOs led by Pew Charitable Trusts.

Founded by WWF, the MSC has been eyed jealously by American NGOs as an important tool for exerting influence over the seafood industry. The entry of the $4 Billion NGO Giant, Pew Charitable Trusts, onto the activist scene has given U.S.-based NGOs the resources to challenge perennial NGO power, WWF, for primacy over marine issues. Pew was one of the funders of two recent reports calling for a change in administration at MSC favoring American NGOs.

The gala dinner raised nearly half a million dollars targeted for use to entice Pacific fisheries to seek MSC certification. Neither the royal endorsement nor the flurry of activity has saved the post of MSC Chief Executive Brendan May. May tossed in his leadership cap with his announcement that he would vacate the post by year’s end.

20 February 2004

ANTI-FARM ADVOCATE’S FOCUS WRATH ON OPEN OCEAN PENS

Rebecca Goldburg, resident scientist in charge of criticizing modern biotech enhanced farm crops and commercial seafood practices for Environmental Defense, doesn’t like fish farms. Goldburg, who emerged on the NGO campaign against aquaculture scene, roughly a decade ago once led the public debate against shrimp farming. Her central argument is that fish farming is inefficient because of the ratio of wild fish caught to provide feed for farmed fish.

In a short piece published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Goldburg decries the move by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to permit offshore or Open Ocean fish farming in U.S. waters. The NOAA/NMFS move is seen as encouraging the farming of species such as cod, cobia, red snapper, etc. Interest in open ocean fish farming is growing worldwide including in the U.S. On the East Coast, Stolt Sea Farms is working to develop Maine’s first cod farm. The University of New Hampshire has an experimental operation looking into cod, halibut, and haddock farming. Heritage Salmon is looking into haddock farming. On the Pacific Coast, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute wants to use oil platforms as open ocean fish farms for striped bass, bluefin tuna and California yellow tail. The Caribbean is the site for a new cobia farm. Goldburg decries this concept because the fish species are carnivores and require more fishmeal protein in their diets.

On the heels of Goldburg’s criticism of open ocean fish farms comes another strident call against that practice from the Minnesota-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Traditionally a strident advocate for organic foods including so-called fair trade coffee, IATP’s entrance into the world of seafood is proving curious to NGO monitors. An interesting alignment of NGOs is taking shape. They tend to link critics of seafood including aquaculture and wild-caught fisheries with anti-biotech agriculture and food animals groups.

IATP’s new campaign against open ocean fish farms includes anti-salmon farm advocates – the David Suzuki Foundation, the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR), and the Center for Food Safety, a spin-off NGO from Jeremy Rifkin’s anti-beef advocacy group. CFS, like IATP, previously concentrated on the organic versus genetically modified food fight. Both the IATP coalition and the presence of Goldburg and Environmental Defense have another item in common. They are both closely tied with the PEW Charitable Trusts.

SALMON FARMING IS EFFICENT FISH MEAL USER

In direct contradiction to Environmental Defense’ Dr. Rebecca Goldburg’s claim that aquaculture’s conversion ration of wild caught fish protein to protein produced in farmed fish is 1.36 to 1, Norwegian researchers claim that salmon farming has a 1 to 1 ratio. Dr. Ole Torrissen, research director of Norway’s Institute for Marine Research said salmon farming needs one kilo of dried feed to produce one kilo of salmon. He compared those figures to European feed conversion statistics on pork and poultry. They were 2.7 kilos of feed for one kilo of pork and 2.6 kilos of feed per kilo of poultry. The Norwegian researcher said the seafood industry has a store of some 30 million tons of wasted fish per year that should be used for fishmeal if it is not being consumed by humans.

CONNOR AND BUMBLE BEE CREATE SUPER SEAFOOD COMBINE

The recent purchase of Bumble Bee canned seafood company by the Connor Brothers Income Fund resulted in the creation of North America’s largest branded seafood company with combined revenues of $678 million. Bumble Bee is the only remaining U.S.-based tuna cannery. It’s brands include Bumble Bee, Clover Leaf, and Orleans. In addition to tuna, Bumble Bee cans salmon and other specialty seafood products. Canada-based Connors is the world’s largest sardine canner under the Brunswick and Beach Cliff brands.

12 February 2004

FAO MEETINGS UNDERSCORE THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN GLOBAL SEAFOOD PURCHASING

The importance of global trade in capture and farmed seafood central to the discussions among delegates at the FAO fisheries subcommittee meeting in Bremen, Germany underscores the need for strict adherence to a code of ethics by fisheries, aquaculture, processors, importers and exporters alike. The dollar value involved (some US$58 billion by FAO figures), consumer confidence as well as the dependence of developing nations on seafood trade for income are key reasons why issues such as sustainability of stocks, food safety and traceability are vital. Developing nations produce more than half the world’s seafood supply. The economic return exceeds exports of rice, tea, cocoa and coffee combined. Chile, for example, saw its income from farmed salmon and trout exports hit the billion dollar mark last year with the U.S. accounting for almost half, followed by Japan who bought little more than a third of that country’s seafood.

Each of those interrelated factors points to the need for a strong corporate ethic guiding every aspect of the seafood industry. Consumer confidence and loyalty translates directly into dollars expended at the retail end. That confidence, in turn, depends upon trust that the supply offered is from sources that are environmentally friendly, that operate from standards of strict hygienic standards, and that pay a fair price to vendors whose relationship with the local work force is socially just. What experts call “traceability” simply means that a consumer or government agency can be assured that no resource has been ravaged and that the fisheries or fish farms operate with the utmost integrity. Given the global nature of the seafood trade “traceability” to today’s consumer is the modern version of the corner fishmonger whose uncle captained the boat that landed the filet for the night’s dinner.

NGO COALITION AGAIN DECRIES OCEAN BOTTOM TRAWL IMPACT

Focusing their