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National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Decision Today on "Organic" Fish

Sets Dangerous Precedent to Gut USDA Organic Program

 

WASHINGTON-Consumers Union today derided the National Organic Standards
Board (NOSB) decision to accept the recommendations for "organic" fish
production that will allow fish to carry the USDA organic label-despite
being raised under conditions that fail to meet fundamental USDA organic
principles. The NOSB recommendations allow:

 

*         Fish to be fed food other than 100% organic feed-the gold
standard that must be met by other USDA-certified organic livestock;

*         Fishmeal used to feed farmed fish from wild fish-which has the
potential to carry mercury and PCBs; and

*         Open net cages to be used-which flush pollution, disease and
parasites from open net fish farms directly into the ocean, adversely
impacting wild fish supply, sustainability and the health of the oceans.

 

The recommendations have been transmitted to USDA, which will issue an
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANRP) immediately.

 

"To slap a 'organic' label on this fish is deceptive and undermines the
entire organic program," said Urvashi Rangan, PhD, Senior Scientist and
Policy Analyst at Consumers Union <http://www.consumersunion.org/> . "If
enacted, this gutting of the organic standards will not only allow
sub-par organic fish to be sold with a premium, but will undermine
consumer confidence in the entire organic marketplace."

 

Furthermore, it was clear at the NOSB hearing that USDA advised NOSB to
circumvent the regulations to lower the organic standards bar for fish,
standards clearly not wanted by the American public. Just this week, a
Consumers Union Poll revealed that 93 percent of Americans think that
fish labeled as "organic" should be produced by 100 percent organic
feed, like all other organic animals. Nine in 10 consumers also agreed
that "organic" fish farms should be required to recover waste and not
pollute the environment and 57 percent are concerned about ocean
pollution caused by "organic" fish farms. Nearly 30,000 signatures have
been collected in favor of maintaining strong standards for the organic
label for fish.

 

Some members of the NOSB expressed that they were under pressure from
the aquaculture industry to push a substandard through, with the chair
of the Livestock Committee, Hue Karreman, claiming that he's trying to
"jumpstart" an industry by finding a middle ground. "The action taken
today by the NOSB illustrate their misunderstanding of their own mission
and underscores their willingness to let down the American consumer in
favor of industry," said Rangan. "The NOSB is not a marketing or
promotional agency. It is an agency designed to create and maintain
strict standards that meet consumer expectations." 

 
The push to allow non-organic fishmeal-which can be contaminated with
mercury and PCBs and environmentally polluting production
systems-organic feed and to ensure that waste from farms does not
pollute the surrounding environment. The Board said that some "organic"
fish that don't eat 100 percent organic feed receive a "qualified
organic" label-something entirely out of line with the law and the goal
of the organic program to provide a consistent standard across products
in the marketplace and to prevent any adulteration of the USDA organic
claim.
 
# # #
Contacts:
 
Urvashi Rangan
646.594.0212-cell
 
Naomi Starkman
917.539.3924-cell

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