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Several weeks ago we wrote about a new ‚innovation” in the field of fish farming: using decommissioned oil and gas rigs to anchor fish farms in the open ocean.

Therefore, we werent surprised to learn that the Gulf Marine Institute for Technology (GMIT) is making progress in their project to transform a giant three-platform oil and gas complex into a huge open ocean fish farm.

GMIT will tell you a lot about why this conversion from oil platform to fish farm is good and very little about the many risks it poses. One particularly egregious untruth we uncovered on their website is as follows: ‘By domesticating cobia and other species, it will be possible to provide systems and fast-growing marine finfish species that could help supply a substantial amount of reasonably priced protein to help supplement the world‚ deteriorating supply of one of its most important protein resources “seafood.”

Unfortunately, what they don’t explain is the fact that cobia and the other carnivorous species they plan to cultivate (including red drum, amberjack and red porgy) require massive amounts of wild fish protein, in the form of fishmeal, in order to survive and grow. This of course means they need to take more fish out of the ocean in order to feed the fish they are farming. On average, producing a pound of farmed carnivorous fish requires 5 pounds of wild fish, a highly unsustainable proposition.

Sadly, this is not the least of it.

And so you may ask, why bother turning oil-rigs into fish farms if it doesn’t seem to provide a viable alternative to wild fish. Well, it sure costs a lot less for oil companies when they don’t have to pull their rigs out of the water doesn’t it?

Until recently, countless health-conscious Americans were madly in love with European Union laws that require labeling for genetically-modified (GM) food. But now, that romance has ended. Greenpeace International and Friends of the Earth (FOE) just published a report that identifies the presence of GM rice in Asian restaurants and specialty stores in Europe. According to Reuters, “Five samples out of 27 tested positive for the unauthorized rice strain… The EU does not permit the sale, import, or marketing of any biotech rice on the territory of its 25 member countries.”

The scary thing about this wacky rice is that it is JUST at an experimental stage, meaning that it is not ready to be on any market, EU or otherwise. So how is it, one might wonder, that such an experiment can wind up for sale in the EU? Everyone is pretty silent on that one. Both Chinese government officials and Seewoo Foods, Ltd. were unavailable for comment. And now for the cherry on top: the GM rice in question contains a protein that could cause allergenic reactions in humans.

In light of the recent and untimely death of the world‚ most loved conservationist, naturalist, zoologist and wacky Australian, Steve Irwin, I thought it only fitting to blog about gorillas and banana farmers.

Over 5 years ago, Scientific American interviewed Steve and Terri Irwin. During this interview, Steve expressed his concerns with farming wild animals for “sustainable use”. The argument is that raising wild elephants for people to kill for their ivory will deter the illegal poaching of elephants in the wild. Steve vehemently opposed this. “It seems to me that people are using the camouflage of science to make money out of animals.” He believed this practice would only promote poaching around the world. Much like industrial agriculture has already shown us, mass production of animals for consumption rarely promotes conservational practices.

His wife, Terri, continued this discussion by describing a practical way to stop the killing of endangered species. In some parts of the world, banana farmers lose up to 50% of their crops to gorillas. Most farmers end up shooting the gorillas to protect their livelihood. Steve and Terri believed this problem could be solved much like dolphin-friendly tuna helped protect dolphins from tuna nets. “Personally, I would pay more for a banana if I knew that the farmer allowed a certain number of his bananas to be taken by gorillas instead of shooting the gorillas that came down and ravaged his crops,” explained Terri. The farmer might still lose up to 50% of his crop, but the other 50% would be worth much more.

Innovative solutions like this one exemplify how Steve Irwin dedicated his life to conservation. He shared his passion, love, and vision with the hope of making the world a better place. He inspired generations of conservationists and for that, he will be greatly missed.

The fish farming industry is increasingly looking for meat substitutes for the diets of farmed carnivorous fish. Recently, the University of New Hampshire‚ Open Aquaculture Program hosted representatives of the Illinois Soybean Association and other soybean industry leaders to discuss mutually beneficial arrangements. The soybean industry, as a whole, views the fish farming industry as a promising source for future sales growth. Fish specialists are developing species-specific soy diets and hope to develop soy protein concentrate. Soy happens to be one of the most commonly genetically modified food commodities.

One of the underlying problems with farming carnivorous fish is that, well, they eat other fish. And offshore aquaculture , the form of aquaculture currently promoted by members of Congress and sectors of the federal government , involves predominantly carnivorous fish. On average, producing a pound of farmed carnivorous fish requires over 5 pounds of wild fish, while some species such as tuna can require up to 20 pounds.

Although the fish farming industry has somewhat reduced meat to non-meat consumption ratios by tampering with fish diets, carnivores are still carnivores. Vegetable proteins have an inappropriate amino acid balance and are not as digestible for fish.

Although fish high on the food chain have a high commercial value, their production on an industrial scale is inefficient and bad for wild fish populations.

On August 15, the British newspaper The Independent wrote: “Thames Water has become undisputed holder of the title of Britain’s most hated utility — the competition is generally tough, so it took some doing.”

Thames Water is, at least for now, one of nearly 600 subsidiaries of RWE, the German energy and water conglomerate. But RWE is hoping to unload this troublesome British utility, and its U.S. counterpart American Water, by 2007. RWE recently received two bids for Thames Water, one from a group led by British private equity firm Terra Firma, and another from a group headed up by Qatar‚ national investment fund.

What experience do these two firms have in providing people with essential water? The agency that regulates water in Jakarta, Indonesia, is asking that very question. The new owner of Thames will also win a share in Jakarta‚ water system. The Indonesian water authority also wants Thames to settle its $3.78 million debt before the sale, so that the people of Jakarta wont get stuck with the bill.

This week, Italian officials issued a food safety alert after discovering an excessive amount of sulphites in shrimp imported from Brazil. In Belgium, two EU-illegal, but commonly used antibiotics were discovered in black tiger shrimp shipped from India.

Sounds gross, right? Well, these chemicals turn up more frequently than we would like in imported farm raised shrimp, which constitutes about 80% of the shrimp we eat as Americans.

Worse still, the FDA only examines 1-2% of imported seafood, including farm-raised shrimp , which means, more often then not, we have no idea what we are eating.

Even though the U.S. has banned a number of drugs and chemicals commonly used in shrimp farming (some are known carcinogens while others contribute to antibiotic resistance in humans) these drugs are not prohibited in many shrimp producing countries.

So, while the U.S. government may say that these substances aren’t acceptable for human consumption, it‚ a little hard to enforce when they’re only examining one one-hundredth of what comes across the boarder. Yuck!

A group of British farmers claim that cows have regional accents and phonetic experts agreekind of. According to John Wells, Professor of Phonetics at University College London, this idea might not be too far off, as a similar phenomenon has been found to occur in birds.

Dom Lane, spokesman for a group called the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers, believes that the cows accents are developed much like they are among humans, especially for those farmers who spend a lot of time with their herd.

“Apparently the biggest influence on accents is peer groups — on children in the playground, for example,” he said. “Herds are quite tight-knit communities and don’t tend to leave the area.”

Wow, this really clears up the conversation I overheard while visiting a local farm recently:

‚This is some grass, eh?” Alanis, the Canadian cow, exclaimed while chomping on a delicious piece of turf.

‚Best grass by fah!” agreed Willy, who was mostly raised in Western Massachusetts.

‚Mais oui! Je taime legrass,” declared the French-bred cow, Pierre.

‚Can yall keep it down, Im tryin to eat,” the bossy Texan, Bessy, yelled.

End scene. [End stereotypes.]

The organic milk industry, which began as a counterculture movement in the 1970′s, is now large enough to attract the interest of major food companies. Gone are the days when you had to wait until the Saturday farmer’s market in order to get organic milk. However, now that Walmart, General Mills, and even Dean Foods have placed their hat into the race over the organic milk market, large suppliers, such as Horizon Organic dairy farm, are battling to keep prices down — and being charged with cutting corners.

Recent claims by organic groups have charged some large,scale organic dairies with violating organic requirements, in particular by not allowing cows enough time outside munching grass. In order for foods to be considered organic, they must meet certain criteria set in place by the USDA, including access to pasture. Additionally, the Organic Standards Board has recommended that dairy cows get about one-third of their diet from pasture for close to 4 months a year in order to be considered organic, although that has not been implemented by the USDA yet.

One of the ways that dairies can cut corners is by keeping cows in a barn for most of the day so that they can be fed energy,rich food, which ups milk production. Yet keeping cows indoors is contrary to the public‚ notion — and the requirements — of organic food. The Cornucopia Institute is accusing Horizon Organic‚ company,owned dairy on Maryland‚ Eastern Shore of breaking the rules by denying cows sufficient access to pasture. A former employee of Horizon, Jacob Tice, notes in a Chicago Tribune article by Andrew Martin that his managers were less interested in the more humane system of rotational grazing and rather more concerned about boosting profits by ensuring that ‚the highest,producing milk cows mostly remained in the barn.” The question remains open as to how the organic dairy industry will grow to meet demand, and whether it will be able to maintain customer confidence in its methods.

New York City might not be the first place you would think of for an experimental fish farm, but indeed it is happening.

In the basement of Brooklyn College, professor and director of the institution‚ Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center, Martin Schreibman is growing fish. Tilapia to be precise. In an attempt to promote a food source that will not contribute to over fishing, Schreibman has bred thousands of the mild tasting freshwater fish, which now live in a number of jam-packed aquariums in the heart of his New York City laboratory.

Unfortunately, however, the fish are also fed fishmeal pellets, which come from, you guessed it, wild fish populations. So, while urban fish farming sounds like a good way to feed a city, it wont actually reduce over fishing until these fish are grown happily and healthfully without the use of wild fishmeal.

But we’re certainly not going to deny it’s a fascinating idea: fish grown on pavement!

Rapper, businessman and global trend-setter Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter announced last week his new partnership with the UN and MTV to bring attention to the world water crisis.
Our favorite quote at the press conference went something like this:

:: Reporter: “Jay-Z, at a concert before your alleged retirement about 2 years ago, you said ‘I’m like the United Nations of this rap game.’ Are we now to believe that you had this planned all along?”

:: Jay-Z: “I wish I could say I’m that smart, but I was just bragging.”

Today, 1 in 6 people lacks access to clean, affordable water, and 2 in 5 lack adequate sanitation. The UN expects that number to increase. But not if Jay-Z has anything to say about it. During his worldwide tour starting Sept. 9, he’ll visit people struggling to get by without adequate access to safe water, as well as communities using innovative, green solutions. MTV will be following him with cameras, and will air their documentary special, “Jay-Z: Water for Life” on Nov. 24 in more than 179 countries. Jay-Z is also exploring ways to alleviate some hardship, by donating “play pumps”— a combination merry-go-round/water pump that draws water as children spin around on it–and soliciting donations from his colleagues in the music industry.

Jay-Z isn’t the only rap star giving airtime to the world’s most popular beverage; in 1999 Mos Def released the song New World Water, with some hard-hitting lyrics. It’s about time our world leaders started listening to some hip-hop.

“There are places where TB is common as TV Cause foreign-based companies go and get greedy The type of cats who pollute the whole shore line Have it purified, sell it for a dollar twenty-five.” –Mos Def, “New World Water,” 1999