Tag Archives: fish farming

Progress for Sustainable Fish!

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

We’ve talked a lot about the aquaculture, from the need for sustainable aquaculture to feed the world’s growing appetite for seafood to how you, as a consumer, can identify responsibly farmed fish at the market.

Part of the challenge, of course, is that all fish farming isn’t created equal. On the good-news front, yesterday the Pew Charitable Trusts announced the development of a new Global Aquaculture Performance Index (GAPI). Developed by a team of experts at Canada’s University of Victoria, collaborating with Pew Environmental Group’s Aquaculture Standards Project, GAPI offers measures to quantify the environmental impact of finfish farming, such as the use of antibiotics, the sustainability of the fish feed, and discharge of water pollutants.

The index focuses on finfish because large-scale farming of salmon, cod and the like has the greatest effect on the environment. “Large-scale farming of salmon, for example, even under even the best current practices creates large-scale problems,” says Dr. John Volpe of the University of Victoria.

GAPI can be used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of aquaculture anywhere in the world. It can be used to assess individual operations, the overall performance of different species, or national aquaculture industries. Volpe notes that GAPI can be particularly useful in Asia, which has the fastest-growing aquaculture industry but a lagging environmental record. But even the most responsible operations have room for improvement, he adds.

Ultimately, GAPI can help improve the worldwide standards for aquaculture, says Chris Mann, senior officer and director of the Pew Environment Group’s Aquaculture Standards Project. Governments can use it to shape regulations for aquaculture, while fish farmers can use it to create environmentally responsible operations. It’s possible that one day farmed fish will carry a GAPI score on labels (the higher the score, the better the environmental performance), which consumers can use to identify the most sustainable options.

Nourishing Hero: Paul Greenberg

Posted on by — 5 Comments ↓

This is the first in our Nourishing Heroes series, in which we feature the individuals and organizations who inspire us. These heroes exemplify our philosophy that food should nourish body, soul and planet. They’re dedicated to bringing all of us fare that’s healthy, safe, sustainable and delicious. Do you know a Nourishing Hero we should feature on NOURISH Evolution? Let us know who inspires you!

All book signings–especially those about food–should be at restaurants. I think so, after meeting author Paul Greenberg when he came to Ammo in Los Angeles to promote his new book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food (The Penguin Press). It was an ideal setting for readers to meet him, have some books signed and dine on a special menu highlighting sustainably farmed seafood.

“There are a lot of people out there who are confused about fish, both wild and farmed,” Greenberg noted. “Fifty years ago, everything was wild. Now, about half of what we eat is farmed.”

He pointed to plunging numbers of Atlantic bluefin tuna and noted “Atlantic salmon are commercially extinct”–meaning the salmon still ply Atlantic waters, but not in large enough numbers to make them worth catching.

For Greenberg, an avid lifelong angler, it’s all about catching fish. But in 2000, while fishing in the waters off his native Connecticut, he discovered that the mackerel and codfish that were so plentiful in his youth had virtually vanished. He then set off on a sojourn, fishing from Maine to the Carolinas. Everywhere, the story was the same: Fish were smaller and fewer, and fishing seasons where shorter.  Greenberg also visited fish markets wherever he went, only to find that local, wild catch had given way to a nearly uniform selection of salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna–the four fish of his book’s title.

It’s no surprise that Greenberg, a frequent New York Times Magazine contributor and former W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow, wanted some answers. He embarked on a global odyssey to understand the story behind these fish. Along the way, he visited a native salmon fishery in Alaska and a sea bass farm in Greece. He went cod-fishing off New England and diving in Hawaii to observe an innovative tuna aquaculture operation. His book is filled with larger-than-life characters, both those who passionately advocate preserving wild fish and those who are just as committed to aquaculture.

Ultimately, Greenberg supports sustainably managed wild fisheries and environmentally sensitive fish farming. What’s needed, he contends, are global efforts to preserve wild fish (including reducing the world’s fishing fleets and protecting the bottom of the marine food chain). At the same time, responsible aquaculture must be developed to satisfy our growing appetite for seafood. That means choosing fish that don’t require lots of feed, don’t threaten the wild population and can thrive in aquaculture environments.

Our menu that night–oysters, mussels, clams, Arctic char and barramundi–was as a tasty example of what farmed fish could be, Greenberg observed. The bivalves filter their food from the water and “don’t require any feed whatsoever.”

Finfish like Arctic char and barramundi are “great for aquaculture because it mimics their wild setting,” Greenberg explained.

In the wild, Arctic char congregate in large numbers to spend their dormant winters in tundra lakes under a thick layer of ice. In their native Australia, barramundi gather in stagnant billabongs. Both types of fish are accustomed to high-density living, which makes them disease-resistant so they can thrive in ecologically sound recirculating tanks. As a bonus, they have relatively low feed requirements.

Interestingly, they’re also relatively new to many American diners. But as fish like these start turning up on restaurant menus and at supermarket seafood counters, we can begin to re-diversify our seafood palate beyond the big four.

In the meantime, Greenberg’s motto works for me: “Wild forever, farmed when necessary.”

Meet our other Nourishing Heroes:

Farm Fresh Fish: All About Aquaculture

Posted on by — 4 Comments ↓

If you’re confused about farmed fish, you are not alone. Aquaculture — fish farming — is hailed by some as the saving grace to our future fish supply and called an ecological disaster by others. What makes it so complex an issue is that, depending on what they’re referring to, both parties are right. What’s not in question is that aquaculture is here to stay; half of the seafood eaten by Americans today is farmed, and the number continues to rise. And, done right, it can be part of a sustainable seafood solution. Here are four basic guidelines to clarify which farmed fish are best to buy and why:

farming-fish-all-about-aquaculture

  • Best choice. Mussels, oysters and clams. Why? Not only do these mollusks filter the water they’re raised in so that it’s cleaner than it was before they arrived (they feed on tiny, floating plankton), they are also an impetus for communities to conform to strict clean water regulations wherever farms are located.
  • Good choice. Tilapia, barramundi, catfish, striped bass, arctic char, trout and shrimp. Why? These fish are good choices for aquaculture because they are omnivores—they eat both plants and animals—or, in the case of tilapia, herbivores. Many experts view new technology, called Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), as the gold standard in aquaculture, providing both a pristine environment for the fish and a completely closed system to avoid polluting native species nearby.
  • Worst choice. Salmon. Why? Primarily because the species itself is carnivorous—it takes 8 pounds of wild fish to make 1 pound of salmon—which makes it a poor choice for farming. But also because most salmon is farmed off-shore in net-pens, which can pollute the waters around them and cause unnervingly high levels of toxins, disease and parasites in the fish. What’s more, these farmed fish occasionally escape, spreading disease to native populations and putting the gene pool of wild species at risk.
  • Know your sources. With the Country of Origin Labeling Act (COOL ) enacted in 2005, the US government gave consumers the right—and the ability—to know where our seafood comes from. And that’s a good thing, given that there are no international standards for the sustainability and safety of aquaculture operations. There are laws governing the environmental impact for fish farms in the United States, yet in other countries, like Thailand and China, aquaculture has had a devastating effect on coastal eco systems. New international standards are being developed, but right now, your best bet is to avoid imported farmed fish and shrimp altogether unless from credible suppliers you know are committed to sustainability.

Eat an Omnivore

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

nton-small-iconIt can be confusing trying to eat with an “eco-clean” conscious. Organic or local? Free-range or all-natural? Farmed fish or wild fish? Each of these questions is a bit like French grammar; sure you can put “rules” to them, but those rules will invariably be followed by a litany of exceptions.

What I hope to do with the “nibbles to noodle” that focus on eco-friendly eating is to dice the larger issues into bite-sized bits for you to ingest into your awareness. That way, you can be confident you’re making smart choices when facing the fish counter, the meat counter, the produce section. This week, we’ll look at a sigle facet of one subject: farmed fish.

Not all fish are created equal when it comes to being a good candidate for aquaculture (the fancy name for raising fish in a controlled environment). Carnivores like tuna and salmon are poor choices by their very nature; it takes up to 25 pounds of wild fish to produce 1 pound of farmed tuna and up to 8 pounds to produce 1 pound of salmon. Because of the high quantity and population density inherent in fish farms, this can put a strain on wild stocks and increase the risk of toxic build-up. Conversely, herbivores and omnivores like tilapia, catfish and arctic char have a much smaller footprint (or should I say fin-print?) on wild waters, making them better choices for farming.

So this week, feast on some omnivorous fish like catfish and see how simple–and delicious–sustainable can be.

* One note: be sure to choose domestically farmed fish. As of now, overall aquaculture practices in other countries are poorly regulated from both health and environmental standpoints.