In this opinion piece on Civil Eats, Marianne Cufone  argues that the time is right for the USDA to expand the types of crops that can earn the organic label, asking the National Organics Standards Board to “note its responsibility to support an organic market where farmers compete to grow the most sustainable, resource-efficient food.”

According to a report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, expanding nearshore finfish aquaculture or establishing an offshore industry in the US carries significant risks to aquatic ecosystems and public health. The major issues they found were: large numbers of recent farmed fish escapes; infectious disease outbreaks on farms; development of drug resistant parasites and bacteria; persistence of veterinary drugs in the environment; fish waste causing local and regional ecosystem impacts; and dangers that could cause elevated rates of injury and death among workers.

Recirculating Farms Coalition has issued a press release asking National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service to end their support of open water fish farms. The request came after an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Atlantic Salmon escaped from Cooke Aquaculture fish farm off of Washington state last week. According to Executive Director Marianne Cufone, “…we encourage the government to step up its support for land-based recirculating aquaculture, which is more sustainable and has far less likelihood of escapes and other ecological damage.”

 

NPR reports on how commercial fishermen scrambled to catch as many salmon as they could after an Atlantic salmon fish farm’s net pen broke near Washington’s Cypress Island on the Saturday before the eclipse. Exceptionally high tides and currents caused an anchor to come loose and metal walkways to twist about. Fishermen reported thousands of the non-native fish jumping in the water or washing ashore.

A good read from Civil Eats about how hydroponic growers that add fish to their vegetable mix combine the benefits of an ecosystem with the resource-efficiency of a water-based operation.

NOAA officials want to change what they’re calling a $14 billion seafood trade deficit. At a webinar about aquaculture last week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees NOAA, said he is committed to “eliminating barriers” to growing aquaculture here in the United States.

A new NOAA report details how the nation’s ocean and Great Lakes economy outpaced the US economy nearly three-fold from the pre-recession levels of 2007, fueling growth across the country.

Find out what Marianne had to say to Food Navigator about the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and organic certification for hydroponic and aquaponic systems. The spring NOSB meeting was held last week in Denver. The board had a deep discussion and asked a lot of questions about the systems, ultimately deciding to gather more information before making a decision on the matter, which likely won’t happen until 2018.

 

A pair of long-time fishermen – brothers Michael and Patrick Burns – are at the forefront of changing the fishing industry by creating and labeling a process for humanely harvesting wild-caught fish.