Comment on Wild Fishery

About the research “This century is the last century of wild seafood”, Steve Palumbi, Stanford University, California

Soil Association Scotland’s director Hugh Raven stated that this research was further confirmation of the unsustainable plundering of the world’s oceans in the search to meet human demand for fish. Pressure had to be reduced on wild fish stocks, therefore sustainable development of aquaculture and fish farming had to be ensured.

The critical state of the majority of the world’s commercial wild fisheries had been a key reason that the Association had decided to engage with and develop organic standards for aquaculture. Feed for the organically farmed fish had to come only from the off-cuts of fish already caught for human consumption to remove pressure on wild fish stocks to feed organic fish. A partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council had been established to ensure that by 2010 all the feed came from sustainable fisheries independently certified by the MSC.

Soil Association’s Policy Director Peter Melchett stated that the decrease in stocks of the world’s fisheries coincided with increasing nutritional advice that the diet should contain more fish. The Soil Association had been at the centre of resolving the environmental and nutritional dilemma. Their work promoted healthier school meals, recognized the value of fish as a part of a healthy diet – but was conscious of the need to balance nutritional needs with sustainability limits.

Therefore recommendations, endorsed by the government’s Sustainable Development Commission and the National Consumer council, proposed that provision of fish in school meals should shift from endangered white to oily fish and be on the menu only once every three weeks, coming from a sustainable fishery or farmed source.

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