Reports: Fish

In this report, the first to address the relationship between the soy and factory fish farming industries, Food & Water Watch reveals that, while the soy industry stands to make large profits from the expan­sion of factory fish farming, there is no guarantee that soy-based aquaculture feed can consistently produce healthy fish or promote ecological respon­sibility. In fact, by causing fish to produce excess waste, soy could lead to an even more polluting fish farming industry.

When people think of fishing, they probably imagine an independent sea captain and his crew braving the elements in a small vessel to bring a fresh catch to shore and to our plates. But the current focus of U.S. policy for managing our fisheries, called catch shares, is destroying the way of life of our nation’s fishermen and coastal communities. This time-honored trade is being replaced by a privatized system that often leaves the future of our nation’s fish, one of our most precious natural resources, in the hands of a small number of larger operations, whose primary goal is often immediate profit rather than sustainable use and long-term conservation.

Choosing the best fish to eat can be complicated. People browsing seafood counters or restaurant menus may wonder whether certain fish are both safe and sustainable. In many cases, the more a person knows, the more questions arise: Is this wild or farmed? Local or imported? Produced in an environmentally responsible way? High in mercury? Tainted with antibiotics and chemicals?

In light of these questions, there is a demand for straightforward guidance on seafood. To address the sustainability questions surrounding fish, a number of certification programs have developed sets of standards and labels to evaluate and then market “environmentally friendly” or “sustainably produced” fish.

The Food and Drug Administration is about to decide whether to unleash genetically engineered (GE) salmon into our food supply. This GE salmon, which is designed to grow twice as fast as normal salmon, would be the first “transgenic” animal allowed into the U.S. food supply. But given how hard the biotechnology industry is pushing genetic manipulation for the animals we eat, it’s likely not the last. According to the rhetoric of the salmon’s creator, a company called AquaBounty Technologies, this new fish is a technological solution for reducing fishing pressure on wild salmon, creating jobs and diminishing the carbon footprint of producing seafood. But a review of scientific literature tells a far different story, one full of downsides for the consumer, the environment and fishing economies throughout the world.

For the past 10 years, Hawai`i’s state-controlled waters have been a testing ground for the industrial ocean fish farming industry. After a decade, and an investment of millions in taxpayers’ dollars, it is clear that the industry has not lived up to its promises of both economic and environmental sustainability. Instead, industrial fish farming damaged ocean ecosystems, infuriated Native Hawaiian rights groups and contributed little to the local economy.

Over the past few years, food safety alerts about dangerous tomatoes, canned chili, peanut butter and beef have made Americans uneasy at the grocery store. Even before this summer‚ warning about salmonella-tainted tomatoes and jalapenos, three-quarters of Americans were more concerned about food safety than they were five years ago.

This report, Land-Based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, provides an introduction to Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS). RAS are closed-loop fish farming facilities that retain and treat water within the Systems addresses why RAS could be an important method of producing more fish for the United States; highlights research, development and technical innovations in RAS; and discusses concerns and recommendations for the future of these systems. Land-Based Recirculating Aquaculture Systems also provides commercial case studies of existing successful RAS operations in the United States.

After a series of safety scares about imported seafood in 2006 and 2007, U.S. consumers are recognizing that more than 80 percent, about 10.7 billion pounds of the seafood they eat, comes from outside the United States. Much of it is imported from Asia and Latin America, regions that have potentially unsafe production practices.