Sustainable Chinese Fish Farms: Good Effort, or Greenwashing?
SeafoodSource recently reported that China will be hosting a forum on sustainable seafood production this November, co-sponsored by China‚ Ministry of Agriculture and Sea Fare Expositions of Seattle. While any attempt to “go green” and begin to reduce negative environmental impacts should be supported and lauded, the “Sustainable Seafood Forum” in China gives us significant pause. With so many companies now claiming their products are “ecofriendly,” it‚ important to watch carefully for greenwashing, the practice of marketing things as being environmentally friendly when they are not.
It just isn’t likely that Chinese aquaculture will become what most of us could consider sustainable very soon, given the huge list of environmental and human health problems often associated with fish farming there. A complete lack of enforcement of food safety regulations and almost no oversight of farming methods, coupled with the farms locations in China‚ highly polluted waterways, are just some of the problems with many of China‚ aquaculture operations. That‚ on top of the high usage of antibiotics and pesticides, which can decimate native species and further pollute waters, and the depletion of wild fish to create food for farmed fish.
It‚ not just impacts on nature that make most Chinese fish farms troubling; fish from these operations have been associated with serious human health problems as well. There have been numerous food safety scandals both in China and internationally over the last few years involving Chinese seafood, including contamination with melamine, carcinogens, antibiotics and meningitis. In 2006 in Shanghai, Chinese turbot (a type of fish) were tested for the presence of carcinogens‚ and 100 percent tested positive. The U.S. government‚ which, as we’ve pointed out, only tests about 2% of imported seafood, is increasingly turning down shipments of seafood from China due to residues of veterinary drugs. In 2006, nearly 60 percent of the imports refused for veterinary drug residues were from China.
We strongly support efforts to make industry more sustainable. But people shouldn’t fall for, or stand for‚ slick PR campaigns that try to paint a greener picture of a troubled industry.
-Erica Schuetz