Standards Needed for Organic Aquaculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has been working for several years to establish organic standards for aquaculture products (farmed fish) and will be voting on a set of proposed standards after their meeting November 17-20, 2008. Although organic standards will likely never be applicable to wild fish, which in many cases may be a better choice for consumers than farmed fish, the development of USDA organic aquaculture standards could be instrumental in giving fish farmers a market they need to sustainably produce fish and shellfish. However, it is crucial that the standards be more stringent than those currently proposed, in order to protect the credibility of the “organic” label and live up to the principles of organic production intended to protect the environment and consumer health.

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