Saving Seafood

Seaspiracy film assails fishing and aquaculture sectors that seem ready for a good fight

March 26, 2021 — The following was released by the Global Aquaculture Alliance:

Seaspiracy, a documentary-styled film released on Netflix this week, intends to shock, and on that count it succeeds.

The 90-minute exposé shows ocean pollution and its vast effects on marine life; it displays grotesque images of dolphins and whales being slaughtered and of vast bycatch species dying, alleging that commercial fisheries have little regard for marine animals and birds; and it outright dismisses aquaculture for its use of marine ingredients and for what it says are poor culture environments.

With the financial backing of Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio, Seaspiracy follows in the footsteps of the similarly produced film Cowspiracy, released in 2014. Like its predecessor, this new film’s clear aim is to turn viewers off of animal proteins in favor of plant-based diets. It doesn’t pull any punches in doing so, alleging:

  • That the oceans will be empty of fish in 27 years and will become a barren wasteland
  • That aquaculture’s use of fishmeal and fish oil in feeds reduces it to “wild fishing in disguise”
  • That farmed salmon are raised in lice-plagued waters and the fish are “swimming in circles in their own filth”
  • Dismisses the concept of sustainable seafood entirely
  • That the best action is to abstain from any seafood consumption whatsoever.

To make his case, director Ali Tabrizi exhibits victims of forced labor on fishing vessels, notably those from previously documented cases in Thailand. One person who survived tells of physical abuse and the constant threat of death from vessel operators.

Read the full release here

Researchers assess aquaculture’s promise and peril

March 25, 2021 — Despite aquaculture’s potential to feed a growing world population while relieving pressure on badly depleted oceans, the industry has been plagued by questions about its environmental impacts.

But over the years, the diverse industry—which ranges from massive open-ocean salmon cages to family farm freshwater tilapia ponds—has made significant strides toward sustainability, according to a new Stanford-led analysis.

The study notes, however, that in order for the global  sector to deliver on its full promise, more effective oversight measures are needed to help ensure that its environmentally sound systems are economically viable.

The findings, published March 25 in Nature, could help shape how consumers think about the seafood they buy, and inform governance strategies critical to global food and nutrition security.

“As the demand for seafood around the world continues to expand, aquaculture will keep growing,” said study lead author Rosamond Naylor, the William Wrigley Professor of Earth System Science in Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). “If we don’t get it right, we risk the same  we’ve seen in land-based crop and livestock systems: nutrient pollution, excessive use of antibiotics and habitat change that threatens biodiversity.”

Read the full story at PHYS.org

6 Reasons to Add Seafood to Your Menu

March 25, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

1. Support Sustainable Fisheries

The United States has some of the largest and most sustainable fisheries in the world—both wild-caught and farmed seafood. Any U.S.-harvested seafood in the marketplace is inherently sustainable based on 10 national standards.

2. Support Our Fishermen

U.S. fishermen work hard to follow robust regulations and only catch what they are allowed within sustainability limits. When buying seafood from U.S. fishermen, you’re supporting their families and coastal communities as a whole. U.S. fisheries also make a significant contribution to the economy and the broader seafood supply chain. They provide jobs and recreation, and keep our coastal communities vibrant.

3. Boost Your Health

Seafood provides a variety of benefits to your diet. It is a healthy source of low-fat protein and high in omega 3s which are good for your heart and brain.

4. Strengthen Our Seafood Supply

If done responsibly, as it is in the United States, aquaculture is increasingly recognized as one of the most environmentally sustainable ways to produce food and protein. Marine aquaculture is a resource-efficient method of increasing and diversifying U.S. seafood production. It can expand and stabilize U.S. seafood supply in the face of environmental change.

5. Contribute to a More Sustainable Planet

Purchasing sustainable seafood helps support larger sustainability goals for the globe. It can help end world hunger, and provide clean water and more economic opportunities.

6. Give Your Taste Buds a Treat

Last but not least, seafood is delicious! This summer, take your tastebuds on vacation with seasonal dishes featuring fresh seafood. Try out a new recipe from FishWatch. You can also stock your freezer and use seafood swaps in burgers, tacos, pizzas, pastas, skewers, salads, and more.

Read the full release here

That Salmon on Your Plate Might Have Been a Vegetarian

March 25, 2021 — Twenty years ago, as farmed salmon and shrimp started spreading in supermarket freezers, came an influential scientific paper that warned of an environmental mess: Fish farms were gobbling up wild fish stocks, spreading disease and causing marine pollution.

This week, some of the same scientists who published that report issued a new paper concluding that fish farming, in many parts of the world, at least, is a whole lot better. The most significant improvement, they said, was that farmed fish were not being fed as much wild fish. They were being fed more plants, like soy.

In short, the paper found, farmed fish like salmon and trout had become mostly vegetarians.

Synthesizing hundreds of research papers carried out over the last 20 years across the global aquaculture industry, the latest study was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Atlantic Sapphire suffers mass salmon mortality at its Florida RAS farm

March 24, 2021 — On Tuesday, 23 March, Atlantic Sapphire suffered a mass mortality event at its recirculating aquaculture system salmon farm in Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

In a press release issued via the Euronext Market, where the company’s stock is listed, Atlantic Sapphire said it expected a loss of 500 metric tons (MT), or around 1.1 million pounds, of head-on, gutted salmon. The company said the average weight of the deceased fish was one kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, meaning an estimated 500,000 individual salmon died due to the accident. The total represents around 5 percent of its phase-one harvest volumes.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

AMERICAN AQUAFARMS CEO: Aquaculture can play a big role in Maine’s economy and climate change response

March 23, 2021 — Maine is setting the stage with its response to climate change, the need for greater sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Aquaculture plays an important role in all three.

The United States imports about 90 percent of the fish eaten in the country. Those imports ship consumer dollars out of the country, while also having a direct impact on the environment from the transportation required to deliver the food.

With wild fisheries under pressure from overfishing and warming oceans, aquaculture provides an opportunity to produce food closer to the people who will eat it and in a controlled and sustainable way.

That’s why American Aquafarms has proposed a new aquaculture facility along the working waterfront in Gouldsboro with pens located in Frenchman Bay.

We believe that this project will produce salmon safely and sustainably, while helping to fight climate change and creating good jobs for Maine people.

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

Huawei Pivots to Fish Farms, Mining After U.S. Blocks Its Phones

March 15, 2021 — Six months after the Trump administration dealt a crushing blow to Huawei Technologies Co.’s smartphone business, the Chinese telecommunications giant is turning to less glamorous alternatives that may eventually offset the decline of its biggest revenue contributor.

Among its newest customers is a fish farm in eastern China that’s twice the size of New York’s Central Park. The farm is covered with tens of thousands of solar panels outfitted with Huawei’s inverters to shield its fish from excessive sunlight while generating power. About 370 miles to the west in coal-rich Shanxi province, wireless sensors and cameras deep beneath the earth monitor oxygen levels and potential machine malfunctions in mine pit — all supplied by the tech titan. And next month, a shiny new electric car featuring its lidar sensor will debut at China’s largest auto show.

Once the world’s largest smartphone maker, the Chinese corporation has seen a series of U.S. sanctions almost obliterate its lucrative consumer business. With the Biden administration keeping up the pressure on Huawei, billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei has directed the company to grow its roster of enterprise clients in transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and other industries. Huawei is the world’s leading supplier of inverters and it’s now banking on growing those sales alongside its cloud services and data analytics solutions to help the 190,000-employee business survive.

Read the full story at Bloomberg News

Slimy, smuggled, and worth more than gold: Can one Maine entrepreneur break into the crime-ridden global market for eel?

March 12, 2021 — It’s hard for aquaculturist Sara Rademaker to pin down the precise moment she fell in love with eels.

It may have been when a fisherman first gifted her a handful of squirming baby eels—also called glass eels or elvers—or the hours she spent with them, raising them to adulthood in a giant tank in her basement. Or it might have been when she killed them, cooked them in a borrowed smoker, and took a bite.

“When I had that eel, I was like, ‘I have to grow this fish,’” Rademaker said. “People get obsessed with eels. They like to work with them, and then it just, like, engulfs them.”

Six years after that first bite, Rademaker stared down into a tank in her eel business’ headquarters in rural Maine, watching sinuous, footlong eels weave figure-eights under the surface. The eels’ slim bodies tumbled together in a blur of green backs and stormcloud-gray bellies. When they were netted as glass eels in 2018—legally, she stresses—they were worth more than gold, at about $2,400 per pound.

Read the full story at The Counter