No less that 44 environmental and consumer advocacy organizations—everyone from Greenpeace to the Consumers Union—delivered a unified message to the National Organic Standards Board last week: NO FARMED SALMON SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CARRY THE USDA ORGANIC LABEL. Check out a .pdf of the groups' letter.
Despite its clarity, there is worry that the NOSB, which establishes organic standards, won't hear (or will choose not to listen to) this message when it meets later this month to consider recommendations from its Aquaculture Working Group that allow (a) feeding farmed fish a diet of fishmeal, which comes from wild fish; and (b) using open-net cages in aquaculture operations.
The groups claim that both practices directly contradict the most fundamental tenets of the organic movement. Fishmeal can contain mercury and PCBs and can come from overexploited species. Open pens cause pollution and aid in the spread of disease to wild stocks. The organizations draw the NOSB's attention to what is obvious, when you think about it: "While the farming of herbivorous finfish [like catfish and tilapia] may be conducted within organic regulations, farming carnivorous finfish (including salmon) in open net cages is an inherently flawed farming practice, incompatible with organic principles."
Currently, seafood cannot be certified as organic by the USDA. Fish sold here under that label—somewhat misleadingly—has usually been approved by independent, foreign accreditation agencies whose standards fall far below what we expect when we see the USDA organic logo.
To be honest, I was surprised by the findings of the board's Aquaculture Working Group until I came across a list of its membership. It seems that 11 of the 12 people in the group either work in the aquaculture industry or are pro-aquaculture university researchers.
What is that little axiom about foxes and henhouses?
Pinterest
