Media watch: Earthquake’s impact

Perhaps the biggest news story worldwide over the past month was that of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Chile, leaving more than 700 dead. Despite Chile being the world’s second-largest salmon producer, finding stories in the mainstream media of how the quake and resulting tsunami affected the seafood industry was easier said than done. Most mentions of seafood were buried with other details.

DailyFinance.com ran a story analyzing the quake’s impact on U.S. consumers, but with only one paragraph mentioning seafood: “The quake destroyed many Chilean fishing boats (and fishermen’s homes) and one union official told the Associated press that the disaster ruined the fishing season, which has just begun. The salmon farming industry was largely spared, through transporting the fish is proving difficult.”

The Discovery Channel’s Web site ran an article regarding the quake’s effect on Chilean exports, which centered on fruit, with a small reference to salmon. The article discussed only the history and success of salmon aquaculture in the country. (The majority of salmon production occurs in southern Chile near Puerto Montt, 400 miles south of the quake’s epicenter, so there was no physical damage to the industry.)

A story on WashintonExaminer.com gave perhaps one of the most detailed descriptions on the quake’s effect on both Chile’s salmon industry and the sardine and anchovy catch. The article quoted fishermen’s associations, including members of Chile’s National Confederation of Small Fishermen and Chile’s National Fishing Association:

“The large ships that fish Chile’s rich waters far out to sea rode out the tsunami and can deliver their catches to ports unaffected by the earthquake. But an estimated 1,000 boats that stick closer to shore were destroyed. Some boats ended up miles inland. The quake hit just as the three- to four-month fishing season was starting for 760 small-scale fishermen in Talacahuano, said Nelson Estrada, president of their union representing fishermen who now wander around with nothing to do, their jeans stained by black mud that the tsunami left behind. Even Chilean fishermen whose boats survived intact may find it hard to work because it will take months or more to repair unloading piers and replace equipment that looters stole from fish-processing plants.”

Switching gears, the Council for Responsible Nutrition earlier this month called the lawsuit targeting fish oil supplements and their producers “a lawsuit looking for media attention, not a public safety concern for consumers.” Nevertheless, the mainstream media ate it up.

The San Francisco ChronicleABC and CBS were just a few news outlets that ran stories about the lawsuit brought against producers and sellers of fish oil supplements, claiming they need to tell consumers that the products may contain PCBs.

However, two articles on the lawsuit stood out. Forbes ran a story on its Web site touting the benefits of omega-3s, while alerting consumers on how to tell if they’re getting a raw deal on fish oil supplements. Rodale.com gave readers tips from a physician on how to choose the best fish oil products.

The lawsuit against fish oil supplements didn’t cause as much of a stir as McDonalds’ in New Zealand when Weight Watchers endorsed the fast-food giant’s iconic Filet-O-Fish sandwich. In its report, TVNZ said, “Critics are unconvinced, saying it will lure people into McDonald’s stores where they are likely to eat high-fat options anyway.”

Coverage of the partnership wasn’t restricted to New Zealand. UK-based Telegraph and NBC are just two of the news outlets that picked up on the story.

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