November 12, 2019 — The National Fisheries Institute is sharply criticizing an episode of the Dr. Oz Show linking shrimp and antibiotics, slave labor, and microplastics.
In the episode, which aired on 11 November, show host Mehmet Oz interviews Paul Greenberg, author of “American Catch” and “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food,” about the safety and healthfulness of eating shrimp.
March 26, 2018 — REEDVILLE, Va. — A group that works with commercial fishermen is questioning why an author posed for a picture while sitting on a jet ski near a vessel in the Chesapeake Bay, rather than ask to come on board.
Paul Greenberg has written a new book, “The Omega Principle,” about omega-3 fatty acids. He tweeted the picture Friday in front of a vessel used by Omega Protein, the Atlantic’s largest menhaden harvester. Menhaden are small fish used for omega-3 fish oil supplements.
D.C.-based group Saving Seafood works with Omega and other harvesters on government and public relations. It says there was no reason for Greenberg to “endanger himself or the crew.”
Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle
March 16, 2018 — As a spotter plane for commercial fishing operations flies over nearshore waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the pilot keeps an eye on the surface below for shifting shapes like oil slicks.
When they appear, the pilot alerts the fleet that target Atlantic menhaden, or Brevoortia tyrannus, a small, silver fish in the herring family that lives in estuaries and coastal waters from north Florida to Nova Scotia. As the waters warm during the year, the species migrates north in football field-size schools, each up to 100 feet deep and pulsing with thousands of fish.
Menhaden on the Atlantic coast, combined with its sister species in the Gulf of Mexico, are among the top catch by volume for all commercial species in the United States, second only to pollock, a fish-n-chips mainstay.
Never gone fishing for menhaden? Haven’t seen it on the menu? You’re not alone. The catch is not a coveted dinner-plate item. As seafood guru Paul Greenberg discovered, “Menhaden are extremely high in omega-3 fatty acids and as such are quick to go rancid if not properly handled.” Plus, they’re chock full of bones.
Instead, whole fish typically are processed, or reduced, into fishmeal and oil and used in a range of products, including hog, poultry and aquaculture feeds, omega-3 supplements for humans, salad dressings, and dog food. The fish also are sold as bait to crabbers and lobstermen along the East Coast.
“It’s hard to believe you can catch a million fish, but nothing you can eat,” a Virginia menhaden fisherman told me.
Read the full story at NC State