Farmed Fish Is Unsustainable

There is a serious problem hidden from most consumers of farmed fish. Plankton is harvested from our oceans depleting needed food for local populations of fish. Yet, notice there is no labling on fish indicating farmed fish. The result is an unsustainable process that depletes the food source at the bottom of the chain.

Consider shrimp, the No. 1 seafood choice in the United States for three years running: Nearly 90 percent of the shrimp we eat is farm-raised, amounting to more than 1.1 billion pounds each year. Up to three pounds of wild-caught fish is needed to raise just one pound of farm-raised shrimp. Not only are the oceans still being depleted, but many shrimp farms depend on staggering amounts of antibiotics, fungicides, algaecides and pesticides to fight diseases that run rampant in the polluted ponds created to harvest the shrimp. Research shows that over time, bacteria exposed to antibiotics may become more resistant to those antibiotics, and patients infected with such bacteria are more difficult to treat.

We need to have a farmed fish labling regulation so consumers can choose. We are rapidly deleting the airable land by overfarming with chemicals, we are draining the aquifiers world wide, and now we are depleting the last sanctuary of protein, our oceans. Just how will we sustain a world population destined to grow from 6.4 billion to 9 billion in 45 years?


Complete Article
washingtonpost.com
The Dangers in Aquaculture's Boom
Tuesday, February 1, 2005; Page A16
Encouraging the aquaculture industry sets a troubling precedent in the United States [front page, Jan. 24]. This relatively new industry entices consumers with rock-bottom prices and illusions of sustainability, but the repercussions of this "blue revolution" are felt individually and at a global level.
Aquaculture is being marketed as a new protein source, but consumers aren't hearing all the facts. Fish feed, such as plankton, is harvested from the ocean to feed farm-raised seafood, leaving wild fish populations at even greater risk and ultimately causing a net loss of protein. Consider shrimp, the No. 1 seafood choice in the United States for three years running:
Nearly 90 percent of the shrimp we eat is farm-raised, amounting to more than 1.1 billion pounds each year. Up to three pounds of wild-caught fish is needed to raise just one pound of farm-raised shrimp.
Not only are the oceans still being depleted, but many shrimp farms depend on staggering amounts of antibiotics, fungicides, algaecides and pesticides to fight diseases that run rampant in the polluted ponds created to harvest the shrimp. Research shows that over time, bacteria exposed to antibiotics may become more resistant to those antibiotics, and patients infected with such bacteria are more difficult to treat.
We shouldn't encourage similar farms to sprout up across the United States. Educated consumers should avoid farm-raised shrimp and fish.
WENONAH HAUTER
Director, Food Program
Public Citizen
Washington
© 2005 The Washington Post Company