What is it about foreign seafood that gets politicians in the United Kingdom and United States so riled up? Are they truly concerned about public health? Or are they simply out to protect the fishermen, fish farmers and processors they represent?
A rash of insults has been hurled at seafood-producing countries like Vietnam in the past week or so. Scottish politician Struan Stevenson certainly didn’t mince words in his address to the European Parliament last week when he called the Mekong River “filthy” and accused Vietnam’s pangasius farmers and processors of “ruthlessly” exploiting workers.
Now Ron Sparks, Alabama’s agriculture commissioner, who ran an unsuccessful bid for governor this year, has told a “Today” reporter that seafood imports are “absolutely” a public health threat. Sparks alleged that, in some cases, 40 to 50 percent of the imports Alabama tests contains trace amounts of banned substances like chloramphenicol, nitrofurans and malachite green.
The reporter, Jeff Rossen, took the bait, telling “Today’s” nearly 5 million viewers on Wednesday morning that “some of your seafood [contains] toxic chemicals.” The program aired video clips of the Mekong lifted directly from the Catfish Farmers of America’s anti-pangasius campaign. The segment also aired on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday.
Rossen’s investigation was so one-sided that he asked National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly the same question 14 times to try to get him to admit that seafood imports are unsafe.
Journalistic integrity aside, what’s really at issue here is protectionism, not food safety. Politicians are taking shots at imports without backing up their accusations or putting the health risk in perspective. And why not? The fishermen, fish farmers and processors they represent are facing tough times — quotas are being cut and imports are driving down prices.
So industry is left to defend itself. In the past, it’s been asleep at the wheel. But times are changing. NFI is stepping up, doing its best to set the record straight, posting on its website a transcript of the contentious 40-minute interview and a blog post from director of media relations Gavin Gibbons correcting the investigation’s inaccuracies, as well as e-mailing its members talking points to help them answer inquiries from the media or consumers.
Also, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and Findus Group stepped up and defended pangasius when Stevenson went on a tirade last week.
But NFI, VASEP and others need your help. Never pass up an opportunity to defend the safety of your products, whether it’s to a reporter, politician or consumer.
Politicians aren’t going to stop disguising protectionism as food safety. And don’t count on the mainstream media to present both sides of the story. Because sensationalism sells.
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