Organic Fish
Wild-Caught organic talks excite big US seafood players, draw out opponents.
By Jason Huffman Undercurrent News March 19, 2021
The Alaska commercial fishing industry and several other US seafood industry groups made their case Thursday for why the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) should move forward with an organic label for wild caught-seafood and allow their products, including especially pollock, to be among the first to earn the honor […] Click for link to complete article on Undercurrent News
“Dennis Moran, the president of Fishermen’s Finest, who was also in the online meeting, noted how agricultural crops are required to be grown in organic conditions. But “with fish, there are organic parts of the water and non-organic, so it seems there should be a distinction between organic wild-caught in an area that might be less pristine, like certain rivers, lakes, etc.”
[…] "We acknowledge that the considerations and potential trade-offs are complex, but we believe that the program will be strengthened considerably if a decision is made to advance standards that can apply to wild-caught seafood," the groups say in a five-page letter sent to Jenny Tucker, deputy administrator at the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).
"Americans rely on and trust the USDA organic seal. Its complete absence from the seafood sector is an enormous missed opportunity."
The letter is signed by top executives and policy experts at the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers, the At-sea Processors Association, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the Pacific Seafood Processors Association and the National Fisheries Institute.
The letter followed a one-hour, online listening session held the same day in which Tucker invited some 160 participants to offer their comments on the prospect of establishing organic standards for wild-caught seafood in the US.
The meeting was held by USDA on the same day and even overlapped the times of two other important seafood-related online meetings, including one dealing with how the agency would divvy up $1.5 billion in COVID-related relief to the agriculture and seafood industries.
Yet participants in the organic labeling meeting included representatives from some of the biggest players in the seafood industry, such as Trident Seafoods, the O'Hara Corporation, StarKist Tuna (part of South Korea's Dongwon Industries), Lund's Fisheries, American Seafoods, Gorton's Seafood, Icicle Seafoods, the Groundfish Forum and even the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, as well as at least one notable seafood buyer, BJ's Wholesale Club.
"[A] pathway for organic designation of wild-caught fish will significantly benefit domestic harvesters and processors by increasing the value [of their catch], and ensure that US consumers are getting the healthiest and most nutritious seafood on the market," said Annika Saltman, charged with handling fisheries management and regulatory affairs for Fishermen's Finest, a Kirkland, Washington-based commercial harvester.
Sustainable Wild Alaskan fish from the Pure Clean Waters of Alaska - waters so clean and pure that former Senator Ted Stevens proclaimed fish from Alaska deserve the Organic label.
Read more on our website about the Organic Fish movement.