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Industry Positions
Food for thought: Sustainable seafood, the happy fish story at a restaurant near you As a representative of Canada’s aquaculture industry, I read your Blog: “Food for thought: Sustainable seafood, the happy fish story at a restaurant near you” with interest. I agree – certification programs are becoming increasingly important as a means for consumers to identify that a seafood product is safe, sustainable and produced/caught with minimal environmental impacts.
Without one global standard, customers are tasked with deciding which certification method to trust. As the number of standards increase, customers are becoming confused in the entire certification system. While your work then to address this is issue through your blog post is commendable, the post contains misleading generalizations which discredit farmed seafood.
The World Wildlife Fund Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue (SAD) released the final draft of its global standards on February 7, 2012. CAIA, representing the Canadian salmon farming industry, participated as a member on the Dialogue’s Steering Committee and is appreciative of the opportunity to collaborate respectfully on sustainability issues with its fellow committee members from environmental non-governmental organizations and international aquaculture colleagues.
Bryan Walsh's cover article, The End of the Line, is a compelling, 'big picture' look at why our planet needs aquaculture - the farming of finfish, shellfish and sea plants. The global human population is growing, per capita demand for seafood is increasing, and our over-stressed oceans can't keep up.
A new survey reveals the majority of Canadians support national legislation to govern and enable the growth of our aquaculture industry. Conducted from April 7 – 14, 2011, the survey found that eight in ten Canadians (81 percent) either strongly support (40 percent) or somewhat support (41 percent) a national Aquaculture Act. Only 4 percent oppose national legislation.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, per capita seafood consumption has reached an all-time high. Fish and shellfish farming – called aquaculture – supplies half of global demand, and is poised to overtake wild fisheries production. Canada’s $2.1 billion aquaculture industry can’t meet demand for its products, yet has difficulty expanding because of inefficient legislation and coordinated opposition campaigns that spread false and outdated information to the public and politicians.
March 17, 2011 Financial Post Aquaculture industry needs updated legal oversight According to the latest United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, per-capita seafood consumption has reached a record high. With much of the world’s fisheries production holding steady, aquaculture — the farming of fish, shellfish and sea plants in marine or land-based facilities — is playing a growing role in meeting that demand. Aquaculture is the world’s fastest-growing animal-food-producing sector, and is set to overtake wild fisheries output. Canada’s $2.1-billion aquaculture industry is strong, but stagnant. Demand for our cultured seafood products remains steady. But while other countries ramp up aquaculture production, our industry is having difficulty expanding, largely because of inefficient legislation and co-ordinated opposition campaigns that spread false and outdated information to the public and politicians.
NBC Washington.com CAIA response
Ms. Cleary could be forgiven for not being educated about the industry. But rehashing one-sided arguments from a single, biased source is unprofessional and does a huge disservice to the public. Far from being raised in ‘cramped conditions’, our salmon occupy less that 4 percent of the net pen in a typical farm. This low stocking density helps replicate natural schooling behaviour.
The key point in this sea lice debate is that last year’s Fraser Sockeye returns were among the largest in recorded history, while salmon farming management practices in BC remained the same. The latest attempt by the usual coalition of activists to link salmon farms, sea lice and Fraser sockeye is problematic because the study’s authors chose a control site – a sample area with no farms – that had significantly lower salinity levels than sample areas where farms existed. Sea lice levels are known to be lower in low salinity conditions.
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