Fishy Organics
Imagine a farm in the ocean that produces fish containing PCBs and other toxins, and dumps chemical-laden waste directly into surrounding waters. Does that sound organic to you? According to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a commission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fish from these “factory farms of the sea” should be able to carry the USDA Organic label. In fact, this week the board is meeting in Washington, DC to recommend allowing fish from open water aquaculture operations to be certified as organic.
But organizations within the organic, ocean conservation, consumer and food safety communities oppose this proposed decision because the principles and practices behind open water aquaculture, growing tens of thousands of fish in cages anchored to the seafloor – are simply incompatible with basic organic standards.
What exactly are these organic standards? Ecological balance and conserving biodiversity. So now let‚ take a look at aquaculture and see if it meets these guidelines. While some day certain carefully controlled aquaculture practices may fit this description, currently, open water aquaculture does not. The farming of carnivorous finfish, like salmon, cobia, Atlantic cod and halibut – in open net pens using wild fish in feed threatens wild fish populations and the marine environment.
In addition to dumping pollution and producing contaminated fish, these ocean fish farms release genetically inferior fish that might mate with wild fish and use massive amounts of fishmeal made from depleted wild fish stocks. In this system, inputs, outputs, health and animal welfare cannot be monitored and controlled, completely contradicting organic principles such as promoting biodiversity and minimizing environmental impact.
Food & Water Watch is making sure these problems are taken seriously. Today we hosted an event where Consumers Union, Center for Food Safety and Alaska Trollers Association spoke out against NOSB‚ plan. You can even listen to the speeches from the groups representatives here.
And just to make sure we drove the point home, we served fresh, wild-caught Alaskan salmon – which will NOT be considered organic according to NOSB‚ plan – and “swam” up the street in a “salmon run” in protest to the board‚ meeting to deliver over 15,000 public comments. Just take a look at these great papier-mache salmon heads!
NOSB will be making its decision about organic fish as early as Wednesday, November 19th, so make sure to check back within the next few days about this important decision!