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The coronavirus pandemic is short-circuiting the global food supply chain, disrupting the seafood, dairy and almond industries. 
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You may also like: Produce: 46% of Peruvian anchovy quota caught After a year of strong pelagic landings, Chile’s fishing season kicks off Peru orders anchovy season closure
PIRatE Lab's insight:
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate for Argentine anchovy fishery has been suspended after it failed to show evidence for progress against its conditions, a MSC spokeswoman told Undercurrent News.
The Argentine anchovy fishery was initially MSC certified in August 2011 and obtained its recertification in December 2016. This fishery has been improving its sustainability standard since it first engaged with the MSC program, but MSC requires fisheries to have a high sustainability standard, according to MSC. "To do so, fisheries under assessment can be certified with conditions; these conditions are a key element to improve beyond a minimum tolerable sustainability level. In the Argentine anchovy fishery case, it was suspended not as a result of bad practices, but because the fishery has not yet submitted information to demonstrate progress in its plan of action to address one condition of this certification," the MSC spokeswoman told Undercurrent. According to the MSC general certification requirement, the "fishery client" has 90 days from the date of the suspension to submit a corrective action plan addressing the cause of suspension, which will need to be accepted by the certifier. If this information is not submitted or is not acceptable, the fishery should withdraw the MSC program. According to the MSC fishery certification requirements, the Argentine anchovy fishery is still certified and has 90 days to submit information to the certifier to get over this suspension, MSC said. "The MSC program is under voluntary basis, so, the client needs to demonstrate its work in addressing the condition," the MSC spokeswoman noted.
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Japanese sushi chefs often can't resist bluefin tuna on offer. Some American chefs can't either, even though conservation groups and marine biologists have been badgering them about bluefin for years.
PIRatE Lab's insight:
I am not one for banning all of everything. But there are certain things that I actively choose not to eat for ecological or ethical reasons. And Ahi (bluefin and big eye) Tuna has now entered into that realm for me.
PIRatE Lab's curator insight,
January 8, 2015 1:24 AM
I am not one for banning all of everything. But there are certain things that I actively choose not to eat for ecological or ethical reasons. But I am not one to stop eating all fish simply because we are not properly managing some (or the majority of) stocks. But Ahi (bluefin and big eye) Tuna has now entered into that realm for me. This is very sad for me. I think of the seafood I used to eat when I was younger and it is not what I eat now.
Most conspicuously, abalone is no longer part of my diet unless I pick up a few small steaks from my mariculture friends' farms. That was literally what my extended family built parts of our summers around when I was a child: men popped, kids transported them up the cliffs, and the ladies pounded the steaks so that all had frozen abalone steaks for the year. Now it is not only illegal to harvest abs here in my region of California, but there literally are none to be had. Victims of overfishing, elevated sea temperatures, Rickettsia-like infections, etc.
These times are always very interesting to me: swearing off gas-powered personal vehicles, blood diamonds, drinking too many drinks on a Friday night, etc. When the facts are in that we really need to do something different to be responsible adults and members of our larger community, follow through can be difficult. It should be that the more "first world problem-y" the issue is, the easier it should be to quit or change our behavior. After all, we are not talking here about a choice of feeding our family or going hungry. But it seems the psychology of such "superficial" changes vs. more consequential/truly difficult choices is much more similar than it is distinct. This posting is a great example of that.
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This is a nice little info graphic which might have some utility/good images for folks making outreach presentations.
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US retail chains Kroger and Safeway have reportedly made up their minds not to sell Aquabounty salmon, regardless of a pending decision by the US Food and Drug Administration, reported Food Safety News.
The decision was released by a coalition of food safety, consumer, health and fishing groups.
The two grocery chains are now part of more than 9,000 stores across the country that have rejected carrying Aquabounty’s genetically modified Aquadvantage salmon — regardless of whether the FDA approves it for public consumption, which it has not yet officially done.
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The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday approved the state’s first aquaculture farm to be located in federal waters about eight miles offshore of Long Beach.Known as Catalina Sea Ranch,
PIRatE Lab's insight:
This effort offers the opoprtunity to supply shellfish to local So Cal markets with markedly reduced carbon footprints.
PIRatE Lab's curator insight,
January 11, 2014 11:27 AM
Our first mariculture facility in federal waters off of the California coast. Cool beans!
While the cltivation of non-native species is normally a red flag, in this case the cat is long, long out of the bag across the entire west coast. As such, this was a non-issue.
While California has lots of good intentions with our strong environmental laws, they have in many instances acted to quash innovation and coastal-dependent industries (this is why, for example, we have no offshore alternative energy production...even though we design and create systems that get installed in Oregon, Mexico, etc.). |
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Undercurrent News is reporting live from Chennai, India, scene of the 2019 Global Outlook for Aquaculture Leadership conference
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You may also like: Tools targetting labor abuse in supply chains awarded $250,000 Seafood industry group argues traceability leads to more revenue DNA tests show over 99% of surveyed MSC-certified seafood is correctly labeled
PIRatE Lab's curator insight,
May 30, 2016 11:48 AM
Traceability and authentication must be at the heart of any sustainable seafood endeavor.
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Climate change will be something you can see when you open your refrigerator
PIRatE Lab's insight:
Oh man! Chocolate, wine, popcorn, cherries, and oysters! I might as well start losing weight now...
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Greenpeace has released the 8th edition of its annual report, Carting Away the Oceans, which evaluates 26 major retailers on their seafood sourcing and sustainability. For the second year in a row, Whole Foods and Safeway topped the ranking. Employee-owned, Midwestern grocery chain Hy-Vee was evaluated for the first time and immediately ranked in the top five. Via Acquisti & Sostenibilità not-for-profit
PIRatE Lab's curator insight,
May 17, 2014 10:58 AM
We consistently see that some suppliers are better than others when it come to providing information, harvest method, etc. surrounding food options/items.
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Researchers in the UK have applied for permission to grow the first genetically modified plants designed to produce high yields of the same omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil, reported the Independent. The trial project is funded by the... Via Konstantinos KOKOSIS, PIRatE Lab
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McDonald's promotes certified espresso and fish for the first time in the US, saying consumers are finally starting to care
PIRatE Lab's insight:
It is certainly true that we "can't have sustainability without the consumer" as McDonald's is arguing. And while it is true that they have not altered their seafood sourcing of late and are "merely" labeling their items, we have to realize how key this is.
We have been surveying McDonald's (and hundreds of other establishments for going on nearly a decade now) as to their seafood offerings. It doesn't matter how sustainable your offerings are; if your answer to the question of "where does this come from?" is "I don't know" you are an impediment. Providing the consumer with detailed information is more than a marketing ploy. It is the first step.
PIRatE Lab's curator insight,
December 29, 2013 1:26 AM
It is certainly true that we "can't have sustainability without the consumer" as McDonald's is arguing. And while it is true that they have not altered their seafood sourcing of late and are "merely" labeling their items, we have to realize how key this is.
We have been surveying McDonald's (and hundreds of other establishments) for going on nearly a decade now as to their seafood offerings. It doesn't matter how sustainable your offerings are; if your answer to the question of "where does this come from?" is "I don't know" you are an impediment. Providing the consumer with detailed information is more than a marketing ploy. It is the first step. |
