You might remember some talk about organic aquaculture in the U.S. a couple of years back, late 2008 to be exact. That was when, after many years of deliberation, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) voted on recommendations for U.S. organic aquaculture standards. You might be wondering why you haven’t seen any U.S.-certified organic fish since. The short answer is the USDA has not yet taken those recommendations and promulgated them into law. That means the U.S. still does not have any official organic aquaculture standards on the books.

Meanwhile, north of the border in Canada where exporting farmed seafood to the U.S. is a huge business, industry has been busy coming up with organic standards of their own. This summer, with the support of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, a Canadian draft organic aquaculture standard was released. It’s not all bad. The standards include seaweed and shellfish standards that include strong elements that prohibit the use of synthetic parasiticides, the direct disposal of waste into the marine environment, and the destruction of aquatic organisms or their habitat. Unfortunately, the draft is not all good either; the standards for farmed finfish allow the kinds of practices prohibited for shellfish!

Here’s what a Canadian “organic” farmed fish would look like under the proposed standards:
- Antibiotics and synthetic pesticides can be used,
- Net pens can keep disposing all fish feces and waste into the ocean,
- Unlike other organic meats that need 100% organic-certified feed, 30% of fish feed can be from non-organic sources including wild fish that can contain PCBs, heavy metals and dioxins, and
- Net pens can spread sea lice to wild juvenile salmon despite scientific evidence documenting sea lice from net pen salmon farms are lethal to wild salmon.

These proposed standards are not only troubling from a seafood sustainability point of view, their inconsistency with current organic standards would cause consumer confusion and undermine consumer confidence in the organic label. Low organic standards would also undermine efforts to truly improve the sustainability of aquaculture–by conservation groups, innovators in the aquaculture industry, and the chefs, businesses and consumers who are trying to make informed choices in the marketplace.

This is not just a Canadian issue. Over 70% of Canadian farmed salmon is sold in the U.S. marketplace and could be labeled organic until the U.S. finalizes their own standards—unless you’re lucky enough to live in California which has regulations preventing non-U.S. organic certifications from being labeled as organic.

A low-bar Canadian standard also influences the U.S. recommendations for aquaculture. Canada and the U.S. currently have an equivalency agreement for organic standards and if Canada puts weak organic aquaculture standards in place it will be easier for the USDA to weaken the NOSB’s recommendations. The standards recommended by the NOSB include more stringent requirements than the proposed Canadian standard that avoid impacts on wild fish and other marine life, limit waste disposal into the ocean, reduce the amount of wild fish in feed and prohibit the use of antibiotics and parasiticides/pesticides.

But all is not lost. You can help keep organic standards strong and support seafood sustainability—the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) is accepting public comments until August 30, 2010. Remember the U.S. is the largest market for Canadian farmed seafood, so American chefs definitely have a voice in this process.

You can download the standards and comment form from the CGSB website and read more about how the draft standards differ from current organic practices on the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform site.

You can also join with organizations and individuals from across North America and sign onto our joint letter. Click here to see a copy of the sign-on letter.

To sign on to the letter: send an email with your name, title and business name (if applicable)to Shauna MacKinnon, Markets Campaign Coordinator at the Living Oceans Society. Click here to send an email to Shauna.

With your help the organic label will continue to provide consumers with a clear and consistent understanding of how their food is produced and ensure them that their choice of an organic food product supports a safer, more humane, more sustainable environment!

According to the White House’s press release, the framework will address conservation, economic activity, user conflict, and sustainable use of the ocean, our coasts and the Great Lakes. For more information and to download the final recommendations, click here.

At the beginning of this month, trace amounts of oil were spotted in blue crab larvae. Now scientists have started to report a major die-off of pyrosomes. Blue crabs and pyrosomes are two major sources of sustenance for larger fish, seafood, and birds - microorganisms whose health reflects the overall change in the state of the Gulf ecosystem. According to marine scientist, Rob Condon, “[if] you change the base of the food web, it’s going to ripple through the entire food web. Ultimately it’s going to impact fishing and introduce a lot of contaminants into the food web.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Drug Administration began testing samples of seafood shortly after the spill occurred, and have collected over 1500 samples to date. Thusfar, sensory and chemical analysis has proclaimed the seafood safe for human consumption. However, despite rigorous testing, the public’s perception of Gulf seafood has been affected, and 44% of Americans surveyed report that they would not eat it. Chefs Collaborative urges the community to support the strong, indigenous food culture present in Gulf communities by buying Gulf seafood that has been deemed safe for consumption by NOAA and the FDA.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/dining/14gulf.html?_r=1&ref=kim_severson
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/science/scientists-discover-oil-blotches-on-tiny-blue-crab-larvae-in-gulf-of-mexico-source-uncertain-97703209.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100714/ap_on_sc/us_gulf_oil_spill_food_web_4
http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=4294997608

A recent study found that 89% of respondents were somewhat concerned about the potential effect of the spill on the safety of Gulf seafood. Forty-four percent said they would only eat seafood that they know doesn’t come from the Gulf.

And Slow Food USA’s blog has been the home of a heated debate on the issue of Gulf seafood. On one side, people are advocating for continued consumption of seafood from the Gulf to support the fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by the Gulf gusher. On the other are individuals raising concerns about eating seafood tainted with oil or Corexit–the dispersant being sprayed over Gulf waters.

While the long-term impact of the dispersants and gushing oil on Gulf seafood is unknown, we know that all eyes are on the Gulf seafood industry and multiple layers of precaution have been put in place to keep contaminated seafood out of the marketplace.

The first line of defense is shutting down areas that are known to be, or likely to be, exposed to oil. So far NOAA Fisheries Service (the federal agency responsible for federal fishing regulations) has shut down about 30% of the Gulf to fishing. The waters of the Gulf are continuously monitored and the closed area continues to be updated. Click here to see the latest map of the closure area.

A second line of defense against contaminated seafood is a multiagency protocol for testing seafood from the Gulf. NOAA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Seafood caught outside of the closed areas is tested using sensory and chemical analysis to detect oil and dispersants. Click here to read more about the testing process straight from the FDA.

As one purveyor of Gulf seafoods said “I put in the good, the bad and the ugly, so the chefs could understand what was happening.” Expect the same from your purveyor–ask about where exactly the seafood’s coming from, and the latest news from NOAA on area closures. And be sure to share information with your waitstaff and customers. Your transparency will contribute to informed decisions that all parties can feel good about.

While there is still seafood on the menu at the moment, certain items are becoming scarcer and thus more expensive, prompting Louisiana chefs to make difficult decisions with regard to their supplies. In the wake of the oil spill, they are facing a dilemma: how to honor a long-standing, cultural tradition of sourcing as locally as possible, while providing their customers with the same signature dishes they’ve come to love. According to a University of Arizona study, “more than 240 kinds of ‘historically eaten, place-based foods’ are at risk for being lost from what has been a cornucopia for generations of Gulf Coast residents.”

–by Jen Ede, www.chefscollaborative.org

Our friends over at Trout Unlimited have been working on a new campaign, Savor Bristol bay, here’s guest blogger Elizabeth Dubovsky from Trout Unlimited to give us some more insight.

Over the coming months, Trout Unlimited’s Savor Bristol Bay campaign will be gathering signatures from chefs/restaurateurs for a letter asking President Obama to ensure that our nation’s largest wild salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska be protected from large-scale mineral development, specifically the proposed Pebble mine. The Pebble mine would be one of the world’s largest open-pit gold and copper mines and would be developed in some of the most productive wild salmon habitat left on the planet: the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers. Given the seismically active zone in which Pebble would be built and the dynamic hydrology of the Bristol Bay watershed, scientists have many reasons to believe that the Pebble mine could become an environmental disaster, destroying both Bristol Bay’s salmon fisheries and the Native communities who rely on the annual return of Bristol Bay’s salmon.

Already, dozens of chefs from around the country have partnered with Trout Unlimited’s Savor Bristol Bay campaign to promote Bristol Bay salmon and educate their clients about Bristol Bay’s story and the people and places that make it so unique.

One of these chefs is Kevin Davis from Steelhead Diner and Blueacre Seafood in Seattle, WA who even traveled to Washington D.C. in 2009 to lobby for protection of Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery. “As someone who relies on wild salmon for my business, there’s a lot at stake in Bristol Bay. Not only is a critical source of our wild salmon at risk, but an iconic food that has inspired Northwest cuisine for thousands of years as well.”

Not only have chefs and grocery retailers started to speak out in support of protecting Bristol Bay’s salmon, but jewelers such as Tiffany & Co. and Zales have also pledged to not source any gold that comes from the Pebble mine, should it be developed.

The sign-on letter will be delivered to the White House later this year in conjunction with a celebratory Savor Bristol Bay week in our nation’s capital. Signatures will be gathered until November 30, 2010.

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions or for more information about Savor Bristol Bay.

Cooks Confab, a group of San Diego chefs dedicated to promoting local, sustainable, and responsible food choices through their monthly dinner events are hosting an exciting week of events centered on sustainable seafood this spring! From May 31 to June 6, there will be various discussions with guests from all over the food world. Among the events are Fish! Facts, a Fish! Forum, and Fish! Food, in which like-minded restaurants are invited to create prix fixe sustainable seafood menus to be featured all week. The restaurants will be given informational materials including the Green Chefs, Blue Ocean sustainable seafood course to review and generate conversation. The event is $125, including appetizer, reception, dinner, all beverage, gratuity and tax. To make your reservation call (619) 522-8490.

A nonprofit dedicated to Ideas Worth Spreading, TED hosts a variety of conferences worldwide with the goal bring together people from the Technology, Entertainment, and Design realms. Many of the performances at TED are then uploaded to their website so all can enjoy the enlightening insights of the masters of various fields. Recently, Chef Dan Barber’s talk “How I Fell In Love With A Fish,” was posted, offering a unique, informative, and simultaneously entertaining approach to fish as they appear in the culinary world.

Opening with the accepted belief that fish farming will be part of the future, Chef Barber’s talk dually exposes the good and bad of the fish farming industry. After discovering the “sustainable” fish he had been serving in his restaurant were relying on chicken pellets for thirty percent of their diet, Chef Barber discontinued the fish claiming it then “tasted like chicken.”

Chef Barber then describes a vastly different experience at a fish farm in southwest Spain called Veta La Palma, which has completely reversed the ecological destruction from a former Argentinean beef farm. Run by a biologist named Miguel, the farm is simultaneously a system that is completely self-renewing, whose diverse animals are healthy enough to earn the label of a bird sanctuary, and one that purifies the water which comes from a polluted river and drains to the Atlantic.

Chef Barber’s message throughout the speech seems most clear in his last few minutes, where he addresses the question “How do we feed the world?” His answer is to break this question down first to how do we feed ourselves, “or better, how can we create conditions that enable every community to feed itself?” Barber advocates for a reliance on ecological system based on relationships among nature, to restore rather than deplete. This he says, is the only way to ensure a “delicious future.”