Comments Eli has made

Is sustainable seafood possible?

Roz,

I imagine most people share your mix of wary cynicism and guarded optimism when they consider seafood and aquaculture issues; there is so much conflicting information that consumers are rightfully confused.

It is important that the serious environmental, social, and health implications involved are publicized, and that the issues are not sugarcoated and greenwashed by the industry and the media.

As new aquaculture technologies promise to feed the growing demand for seafood, it will become increasingly necessary that sustainability is ensured.  This is not currently happening; A recent analysis of 18 aquaculture certification schemes by the World Wildlife Fund showed that they generally had major shortcomings in terms of the way in which they considered environmental standards and social issues.

Furthermore, sustainability must take into consideration health and social implications in addition to environmental impacts.  To feed Americans' insatiable appetite for shrimp,for example, over 80% is imported from countries like China and Ecuador.  There are significant consequences of this including:

**Health: Consumer health risks from eating contaminated shrimp include neurological damage from ingesting pesticides, allergic reactions to penicillin residues, and infection from antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In shrimp farming countries, the health of the people has declined since shrimp farms have polluted drinking water and decreased agricultural production.

*Social:  Shrimp farms physically block community access to coastal resources and limit access to fishing sites, so local fishing communities that traditionally relied on mangroves for food and resources have been displaced and impoverished, often without financial compensation or alternative land made available for them to live. Child labor and abuse of women have also been associated with shrimp farming. In the U.S., local fishermen have been put out of business due to the "dumping" of cheap imports.

**Environmental: Shrimp farming is the number one threat to mangroves and coastal ecosystems, which provide habitat for tropical and subtropical commercial fisheries and numerous aquatic species; protect coastlines from wind and waves thereby minimizing damage from storms, hurricanes, and tsunamis; trap sediments and prevent erosion; and absorb CO 2 which helps lessen the effects of global warming. It also depletes wild fish stocks and pollutes agricultural land and waterways.

Mangrove Action Project and Food and Water Watch are partnering to launch a consumer awareness campaign about these important issues. For more information, visit:

Mangrove Action Project www.magroveactionproject.org,  

Food and Water Watch http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/fish-seafood/shrimp ...

Environmental Justice Foundation http://www.ejfoundation.org/page211.html,

Greenpeace  
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/ ...
On Fishing for hope at a seafood-industry trade show posted 1 year, 9 months ago 6 Responses