Published on March 15, 2013
- Fact Sheets:
Catch limits are protective caps on the number of fish that can be caught in a fishing year. They are a fundamental measure to prevent overfishing and ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks. These measures are set based on scientific assessments of the health of fish stocks.
Published on February 20, 2013
- Issue Briefs:
Around half of the fish that the world eats for dinner comes from fish farms. Aquaculture is promoted as a sustainable way to meet rising consumer demand for seafood. But fish farming relies on small, wild fish to feed farmed fish, pollutes the waters around it with wastes and chemicals and threatens wild fish biodiversity through escapes and disease transmission.
Published on July 27, 2012
- Fact Sheets:
The United States and the European Union are moving toward privatizing their fisheries management systems through catch shares, while Iceland, with one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive catch share programs, is struggling to find a way to dismantle its program. Why? The answer is that catch shares have failed Iceland’s fisheries and the nation as a whole.
Published on July 02, 2012
- Reports:
In this report, the first to address the relationship between the soy and factory fish farming industries, Food & Water Watch reveals that, while the soy industry stands to make large profits from the expansion of factory fish farming, there is no guarantee that soy-based aquaculture feed can consistently produce healthy fish or promote ecological responsibility. In fact, by causing fish to produce excess waste, soy could lead to an even more polluting fish farming industry.
Published on June 27, 2012
- Fact Sheets:
All too often when an economist or banker looks out at an expanse of virgin forest or free-flowing river, she doesn’t see nature — she sees “natural capital.” This concept promotes the view that our natural resources should be attached a value and managed using market-based principles of supply and demand. It is the cornerstone of the “green economy” that many free-market proponents and market-oriented environmentalists assert will provide environmental sustainability.
Published on November 16, 2011
- Issue Briefs:
The Gulf of Mexico is known for fishing — vacationers flock to the coasts to charter a boat for a day of recreational fishing or just to dine in restaurants serving up the commercial catch of the day. But behind the stories of landing a monster fish and melt-in-your-mouth grilled filets, a battle is being waged to determine if the Gulf’s fishermen and charter captains will remain an independent and integral part of southern coastal culture, or if they will instead lose their way of life in the rush to transform our fisheries into corporate-dominated markets.
Published on October 12, 2011
- Reports:
Over the past decade, people have become increasingly conscious about the environmental, cultural and economic repercussions of their food choices, and a movement has emerged to support more diverse, sustainable options. This movement has extended to choices about seafood, as people take note of issues such as overfishing and the environmental ramifications of different types of fish farming.
Published on September 30, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Offshore aquaculture is factory fish farming of the sea, growing fish in huge, often over-crowded cages out in ocean waters. It can be problematic for both
the environment and the economy. The waste – fecal matter, uneaten food, and any chemicals or drugs used in the operation – flows directly into the ocean, and the result could be long-term damage to the seafloor. Despite its negative impacts, the following groups push for, or would profit from, factory fish farming in the United States and Europe.
Published on August 11, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Catch shares are a system for managing our nation’s fisheries that are causing consolidation in the fishing industry at the expense of the livelihoods of thousands of smaller-scale, traditional fishermen and their communities. Such programs are being heavily touted as a means to promote sustainable fishing, but a closer look reveals they do not have a positive environmental record. Catch shares can incentivize the use of larger-scale boats, more damaging gear and wasteful fishing practices that hurt fish populations and the habitats on which they depend.
Published on July 26, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Offshore aquaculture is factory fish farming of the sea, growing fish in huge, often over-crowded cages out in open ocean waters. It can be problematic for both the environment and the economy. The waste – fecal matter, uneaten food, and any chemicals or drugs used in the operation – flows directly into the ocean, and the result could be long-term damage to the seafloor. Despite its negative impacts, the following groups push for, or would profit from, factory fish farming in the federal waters of the United States.
Published on July 20, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Ocean factory fish farming, also known as open ocean aquaculture, involves growing marine fish in cages and net pens in the ocean. These facilities threaten coastal and fishing communities, consumers, and the health of our oceans. A new piece of legislation would put the brakes on efforts by government agencies to expand this unsustainable industry into federal waters, generally located three to 200 miles offshore.
Published on June 16, 2011
- Reports:
When people think of fishing, they probably imagine an independent sea captain and his crew braving the elements in a small vessel to bring a fresh catch to shore and to our plates. But the current focus of U.S. policy for managing our fisheries, called catch shares, is destroying the way of life of our nation’s fishermen and coastal communities. This time-honored trade is being replaced by a privatized system that often leaves the future of our nation’s fish, one of our most precious natural resources, in the hands of a small number of larger operations, whose primary goal is often immediate profit rather than sustainable use and long-term conservation.
Published on June 15, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to approve genetically engineered (GE) salmon as the first “transgenic” animal allowed into the U.S. food supply. AquaBounty Technologies, Inc. says its GE salmon, which is designed to grow twice as fast an unaltered fish, is safe, healthy and poses little threat to the environment, but there are many reasons to doubt these claims.
Published on June 09, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
In many communities people are growing more and more aware that their food choices affect not just our own health, but also our society and planet. Whether it is local farmers’ markets springing up across the country or grocery stores dedicating aisles to organic foods, it’s clear that consumers are taking a more critical view of how their food is produced. But when it comes to seafood, murky messages abound about what we are eating.
Published on May 31, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Bluefin tuna is a top-level predator of the seas that has been part of the human diet for centuries. Thousands of years ago this fish was so revered throughout the Mediterranean that it was painted on cave walls and minted onto coins. These massive creatures can grow to be 12 feet (about 3.5 meters) long and up to 1,500 pounds (680 kg). But today, several bluefin tuna populations are teetering on the brink of collapse and suffering from unsustainable industrial fishing practices. Ineffective international management has exacerbated their dire situation. What must be done to address the bluefin tuna crisis?
Published on April 18, 2011
- Issue Briefs:
Both the novel application technique and the unprecedent- ed volume of dispersant used make the BP Deepwater Horizon response unique. Many experts remain concerned about the increased use of toxins in the ocean which may lead to longer-term ecological problems and may have unpredictable impacts from use of the chemical underwater. Dispersants do not eliminate oil from the environment; they break down the oil into smaller, less visible particles and often sink it to the bottom, out of sight. The dispersant and the smaller oil particles remain as toxins in the water.
Published on April 18, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
When an earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated Japan’s northeastern coast on March 11, 2011, a nuclear crisis began unfolding at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Japanese government estimates it could be several months before the cooling systems, damaged by the natural disasters, are fully functional. In an effort to thwart a nuclear meltdown at the plant while the cooling system is damaged, hundreds of tons of water has been sprayed into four of the six reactors to cool fuel rods and spent fuel. The radioactive water is pooling in various locations around the plant, inhibiting work to bring the damaged cooling systems back into operation.
Published on February 25, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
Ocean aquaculture — the mass production of fish in large, floating net pens or cages in the sea — has often led to environmental and other disasters in the countries where it has been practiced commercially. Expanding this dirty, costly industry in waters off the United States could harm consumers, fishermen and the marine environment.
Published on February 09, 2011
- Fact Sheets:
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was established in 19961 as an eco- labeling and certification program with the purpose of letting consumers know which fisheries are considered "sustainable" based on a set of criteria. It was co-founded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international conservation organization, and Unilever, a multinational corporation that was once one of the largest seafood manufacturers in the world.
Published on December 10, 2010
- Fact Sheets:
Choosing the best fish to eat can be complicated. In many cases, the more you know, the more questions arise: Is this wild or farmed? Local or imported? Produced in an environmentally responsible way? High in mercury? Tainted with antibiotics and chemicals?
In light of these questions, there is a demand for straightforward guidance on seafood. To address the sustainability questions surrounding fish, a number of certification programs have developed sets of standards and labels to evaluate and then market “environmentally friendly” or “sustainably produced” fish. But what do these labels really mean? We examined various seafood certification programs and unfortunately, these labels do not always represent what you might expect.
