Saving Seafood

Why Is Fish Good for You? Because It Replaces Meat?

October 7, 2016 — Articles often mention that eating any kind of fish (not just fatty fish) twice weekly reduces various health risks. Is this because it replaces red meat, or is there some other reason?

Many fish, especially oily, darker-fleshed fish like salmon and herring, are rich in heart-healthy, polyunsaturated, omega-3 fatty acids, but healthful fats are not the only reason to eat fish. Dietary guidelines in the United States encourage adults to eat eight ounces of a variety of fish and seafood each week – roughly two meals’ worth – because of the “total package of nutrients in fish,” which includes lean protein, vitamins A and D as well as B vitamins, and a host of minerals such as iron, iodine, selenium and zinc.

Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding are urged to eat as much as 12 ounces of seafood to improve infant outcomes, but should steer clear of fish that’s high in methyl mercury. (The Food and Drug Administration recommends avoiding king mackerel, tilefish, shark and swordfish and limiting tuna; the nonprofit Environmental Working Group advises against a broader list of fish in its Consumer Guide to Seafood.)

“Fish is very low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol,” said Jennifer McDaniel, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and people who follow a Mediterranean style diet that incorporates seafood appear to be at lower risk for obesity, “but a lot of people don’t think about that and just focus on omega-3s.”

Read the full story at The New York Times

Bait and Switch Still a Favorite Policy for Many Seafood Restaurants

October 6th, 2016 — Happy National Seafood Month!

But do you know what’s in your sushi or that basket of fish and chips? A recent report indicates you might not.

According to research compiled by ocean conservation group Oceana from 200 studies, 20 percent of seafood sold worldwide is mislabeled.

So that tuna you’re enjoying might actually be whale meat, and the “wild-caught salmon” commanding the high ticket price on the menu may actually be cheaper farmed salmon. In other egregious cases, fish containing high levels of mercury are being sold as safer alternatives, and some “caviar” contains no animal DNA whatsoever.

How can this happen? “Seafood fraud is one of those issues that isn’t always under one [government] agency,” Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana, explained to NBC. “There’s this patchwork of fish management laws, wildlife trafficking laws, food and drug laws.”

Oceana defines mislabeling as “species substitution where one fish was sold as another.” And, according to their research, it’s rampant.

Fishy methodology?

But not everyone agrees that the problem is as widespread as this report indicates. The National Fisheries Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to education about seafood safety, sustainability, and nutrition — and which promotes dietary guidelines recommending Americans include fish and shellfish in their diets twice per week — responded to the Oceana report criticizing their methods.

The NFI cited FDA research that shows the percentage of mislabeled (primarily domestic) seafood is 15 percent, focusing on the varieties at highest risk for mislabeling and/or substitution, including cod, snapper, and grouper.

Others in the industry think all of these numbers are overstated. “My belief is that it’s very, very small,” Wayne Samiere, a marine biologist and owner of Honolulu Fish Company, told NBC. “In seafood, reputation is everything. Who would risk their reputation?”

“You can always go to a restaurant and find something, always dig up some kind of thing going on, but is it going on on a large scale?” he said. “There’s simply no way. A high-end chef in a large restaurant group, these are the guys that will be the most afraid, they have the most to lose. The benefit is very small.”

Read the full story at NBC

Americans’ Seafood Consumption Below Recommendations

October 4th, 2016 — From fish tacos to smoked salmon pizza to shrimp sushi rolls, Americans are finding new ways to eat seafood. Seafood (fish and shellfish) is a nutrient-dense source of dietary protein, which is relatively low in calories and saturated fat, compared to some other protein sources, and rich in key nutrients, including vitamins A, B12, and D; iron; zinc; magnesium; phosphorous; and potassium. Seafood is the primary food source of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA.

The 2015-20 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and supporting USDA MyPlate food group targets recommend that Americans eat a variety of protein foods, including at least two servings of seafood per week, as part of a healthy eating pattern low in added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium. For an average 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, that advice translates into at least 8 ounces of fish and shellfish per week, or about 20 percent of total consumption from the protein foods group (meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy foods).

ERS food availability data suggest that Americans are eating less than this recommended amount of seafood. After growing from 12 pounds in 1970 to a peak of 16.5 pounds in 2006, average per capita supplies of seafood available for Americans to eat were 2 pounds less in 2014 at 14.5 pounds. Loss-adjusted availability (a proxy for consumption) was 2.7 ounces per week, or about one-third of recommendations.

ERS annually calculates the available supply of a commodity as the sum of production, imports, and beginning inventories minus exports; farm, industrial, and other nonfood uses; and ending inventories. Per capita estimates are determined by dividing the total annual supply of the commodity by the U.S. population for that year. ERS calculates a second set of data—loss-adjusted food availability—by adjusting for food spoilage, plate waste, and other losses at the retail and consumer levels, to more closely approximate actual intake.

Survey data show that while more than half of Americans meet or exceed Dietary Guidelines targets for the total protein foods group, most people need to make changes in their choice of foods within the group to reap the health benefits of seafood and stay within limits for total calories and saturated fat. Compared to the recommended 20 percent, seafood accounted for 5 percent of total consumption from the protein foods group in 2014, which was dominated by meat and poultry.

Consumers also chose a relatively limited variety of seafood products. Five foods—shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, tilapia, and Alaska pollock—made up nearly three-quarters of total seafood consumption in 2014. Low-cost imports of farm-raised shrimp, salmon, and tilapia and the use of wild-caught Alaska pollock in fast-food fish sandwiches, frozen fish sticks, and imitation crab meat have largely driven the popularity of these four seafood species.

Consumption of seafood may be limited by a number of factors, including a lack of awareness about the health benefits of seafood; unfamiliarity with preparation methods; higher retail prices, on average, compared with meat and poultry; and concerns about food safety and mislabeling of imported seafood products.

Read the full story at the USDA

Despite parent company’s woes, National Seafood turns a profit

October 3, 2016 — The bankruptcy proceedings involving international seafood processing giant Pacific Andes International Holdings has pulled back the curtain on the performance of its Gloucester-based subsidiary, National Fish & Seafood.

Quoting filings in Pacific Andes’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in New York, the Undercurrent News website reported that National Fish, normally mute on all matters related to its financial performance, turned a $1.28 million profit on revenues of $115 million for the six-month period that ended March 31.

That appears to be a marked improvement over the seafood processing subsidiary’s performance in the year that ended Sept. 28, 2015, when National Fish reported a similar profit of $1.27 million on revenues of $252.7 million for the entire 12-month period.

To date, National Fish, which processes and markets more than 40,000 tons of frozen seafood annually at its East Main Street facility under the National Fish, Matlaw’s and Schooner brands, has remained above the bankruptcy fray even as Pacific Andes has explored selling off other subsidiaries to pay creditors.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

More than 80 percent want new safeguards against seafood fraud and mislabeling

September 28, 2016 — WASHINGTON — A new survey by Oceana finds more than 4 of 5 Americans want new regulations to eliminate seafood fraud and mislabeling of fish in the United States.

The survey found that support for traceability requirements – like documenting how and where various types of fish were caught or farmed – was high among registered Democratic voters – 87 percent and Republicans – 81 percent.

The national survey by Oceana, an international ocean conservation group, queried 1,000 registered voters from September 15-19.

It found 71 percent believe seafood fraud is a problem, 76 percent would pay more to know their seafood products are legally caught and labled correctly, while 88 percent feel it’s important to know the kind of seafood they’re consuming.

Read the full story from McClatchy DC at the Miami Herald

Aquaculture Stewardship Council – setting global standards for responsible farming

September 15, 2016 — The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is a global, independent non-profit organisation established in 2010 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) to manage the global standards for responsible aquaculture with the aim to transform seafood markets towards responsible practices.

The ASC works with aquaculture producers, seafood processors, retail and food-service companies, scientists, and conservation groups around the world using its global influence to fulfil its mission to transform aquaculture towards environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

The ASC certification programme recognises and rewards responsible farming activities focusing on the preservation and quality of water resources, preservation of biodiversity and the diversity of species, no misuse of antibiotics,  compliance with strict feed requirements and social responsibility.

The ASC logo is a globally recognised mark for responsibly farmed seafood that is fully traceable to a farm that has been independently certified to the ASC standard and cares for the environment, its workers and the local community.

A growing number of companies are making a stand to encourage responsible farming and consumers can be part of that change through their shopping choices. By choosing ASC labelled products consumers can help ensure the health of the oceans, the livelihoods of local communities, and the availability of seafood for the future.

Increased consumer demand for certified seafood influences lower performance farms in greater numbers to undergo the rigorous assessment against the ASC standards, thereby improve their farming practices and reducing adverse environmental and social impacts.

Read the full story at Aquaculture Magazine

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester Fresh banks on ocean-to-table appeal

September 12, 2016 — This is a story that starts at 2 o’clock in the morning, when those who work on Gloucester fishing boats rise for the day, ready to hit the water.

“Gloucester Fresh” is the mantra coming from America’s oldest fishing port, intended to tap into the farm-to-table trend while applying it to the Atlantic Ocean. The bid to reinvigorate the city’s historic industry conjures a tradition of hard work, blue water, fresh air, and one of nature’s most beneficial resources.

“This is a very healthy protein,” said Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, whose husband, John, is one of the hardy souls who sets off in the early morning and returns to the dock at 3 p.m. with that day’s catch. “It’s the only natural protein left in the world. You’re talking about the North Atlantic, the cleanest water around the United States. We’ve fought very hard so we can keep a clean ocean for the fish.”

While cod, flounder, and haddock continue to serve as the breadwinners, the ocean-to-table movement is promoting underused species such as whiting and redfish that are often eaten by fishermen’s families but not often found on restaurant menus. Exposing consumers to new species is the reason Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken has been demonstrating how to cook redfish soup at seafood shows.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Switch and chips: 20 percent of fish are purposely mislabeled, sometimes dangerously

September 9, 2016 — In the bizarro world of seafood fraud, a fish is not always what it seems.

When sold in Brazil, largetooth sawfish — a species classified as critically endangered — becomes anonymous “shark.”

When sold in a certain Santa Monica, Calif., sushi shop, illegal whale meat became fatty tuna. (The restaurant has since shut down.)

And when sold across the United States, cheap Asian catfish becomes one of 18 types of white fish fraudsters want it to be, according to a recent report.

Worldwide, one in five pieces of fish meat is incorrectly named on the menu or label, revealed the new survey representing 25,000 fish samples.

Oceana, a marine conservation and advocacy group, released the report on Wednesday, and updated the global map it created in 2014. The new map is interactive and highlights news stories of restaurant fraud, as well as DNA analysis and other scientific studies.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Oceana going overboard on fish fraud, according to seafood industry group

September 9, 2016 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is calling into question both the findings and motives of the latest fish fraud study by Oceana, a global environmental group. The action marks a break between the two groups since they previously were largely in sync with one another over the worldwide problem of fish fraud, which is where lesser-value species are marketed as higher-value ones.

NFI claims that by finding 20 percent of all seafood mislabeled globally, Oceana’s latest report is both overstating the problem and unnecessarily calling for an expanded regulatory bureaucracy when enforcement of existing laws is all that is needed.

NFI, a trade association representing the seafood industry with a core mission of sustainability, charges that the environmental group has turned to “misleading hyperbole.”

“Mislabeling is fraud and fraud is illegal, period,” reads the NFI statement released on its website. “That’s why NFI members are all required to be members of the Better Seafood Board, the only seafood industry-led economic integrity effort. Our members are at the forefront of getting rid of fish fraud.”

Oceana’s study is misleading because it looked too heavily at commonly mislabeled species, the group asserts.

“Oceana’s focus on the most often mislabeled species distorts its findings by design. It is a common technique that ironically perpetuates a fraud on the readers of these reports,” the NFI statement adds.

Read the full story at Food Safety News

How to Make Sure Your Fish Wasn’t Caught by Slaves

September 8, 2016 — For years, news outlets have been reporting on the systemic use of slavery in commercial fishing in places such as New Zealand and Thailand. With much of the industry’s byproduct ending up in the United States and Europe—according to a report in The Guardian, “The U.S., U.K., and E.U. are prime buyers of this seafood—with Americans buying half of all Thailand’s seafood exports and the U.K. alone consuming nearly 7 percent of all Thailand’s prawn exports.”—there’s a strong possibility that at some point, slave-caught fish has been served on a dinner plate near you. But thanks to blockchain, a technology best known as the basis for Bitcoin, soon there will be a new digital weapon to fight slave labor.

“We want to help support fish that is caught sustainably and verify these claims down the chain to help drive the market for slavery-free fish,” Provenance founder Jessi Baker told the Guardian. Provenance is an organization dedicated to socially responsible consumerism—it recently began piloting a blockchain program with the Co-Op Food group in the United Kingdom. “This pilot shows that complex, global supply chains can be made transparent by using blockchain technology.”

Currently, the only way to track the progress of seafood through the region’s supply chain is with paper records and tagged animals. According to the Guardian, the world’s biggest tuna exporter, the Thai Union, is all for utilizing blockchain technology. “Traceability—which allows us to prove that our fish is caught legally and sustainably and that safe labor conditions are met throughout the supply chain—is vital if we are to interest consumers in the source of their tuna,” the union’s director of sustainability Dr. Darian McBain told the paper.

Read the full story at Food & Wine