“The Pangasius Lie,” which aired on German TV last week, painted a far worse picture of the Vietnamese pangasius industry than had been feared. The program was so one-sided and biased that one journalist, who has worked in the German media for nearly 40 years, said it was one of the worst examples of “killer journalism” that he has ever experienced.
Herby Neubacher, who now has a seafood-consulting business in Vietnam, said that there was no attempt at fairness, or to give any viewpoint other than that of the World Wildlife Fund.
“Every ethical code of true and honest research has been violated in this [program] and the target is clear — kill the industry, slander the fish, do not care about the truth, but smash them [industry workers] where you find them,” he said.
“I have heard from an industry buyer who stated that Mrs. [Catherine] Zucco [the WWF “fish expert” who accompanied the TV crew to Vietnam and is prominently presented in the program] tells stories without any proof that she claimed herself being a ‘victim’ of the TV people,” said Neubacher. “I can tell you that every second of the program proves that this whole action had been initiated by the WWF, led by the WWF, and created and conducted by the WWF.”
Strong words, but Neubacher has ample evidence to back them up. He explained how the program’s creators were invited into the conference room of a major pangasius processor: “They invited them openly and friendly for a first discussion without cameras, and they [the program’s creators] let a hidden camera run without telling them and used the footage later in the program.”
Adds Neubacher, “They were not allowed into the factory, so after the meeting they went around to the back [of the factory] and filmed there saying that the firm used hazardous and poisonous materials when processing the fish. But they had no proof.”
The program’s creators also visited a farm where the farmer spoke to them in English, but Zucco addressed the camera in German, which the farmer couldn’t understand. He therefore had no opportunity to disagree when she said that chemicals were being used in the farming process. Again Zucco had no proof to back up her allegations.
“They said that 50 antibiotics were used in the farming process. I have never come across 50 antibiotics in my life,” said Neubacher.
Zucco proved that although a “fish expert” she knew nothing about aquaculture when she said that it was “torture” for pangasius to be transported by well boat, a common practice in taking farmed fish to be processed.
Factory workers earning what is an adequate wage in Vietnam were referred to as “slaves.” Children bathing in the Mekong River, as they have done for generations, were “in poisonous water.” The list of accusations against the industry, and against Vietnam, goes on and on.
It is not known what the WWF is trying to achieve by this television program, particularly when Jose Villalon, director of the WWF-U.S. aquaculture program, says that he is “totally convinced that aquaculture is the most sustainable way to feed the world. Farmed fish is an excellent source of protein and, when produced well, helps protect the environment.”
Presumably the WWF thinks that pangasius is not “produced well” in Vietnam, although the industry is becoming one of the most regulated in the world. But making this program is not the way to bring about what changes the WWF may think are necessary. All it has done is badly affect future cooperation with the pangasius industry.
“If anyone in this industry believes that there is any cooperation possible with these kind of slandering WWF people who have not the slightest interest in making anything better but blame a fish, the consumer, the industry, anyone but themselves, he is sadly mistaken,” said Neubacher. “If there is any proof needed that any cooperation with these people is not only a waste of time but is putting the axe to a good business at will — this is the one.”
It is not just Neubacher who believes that the seafood industry should not get into bed with the WWF.
Wout Dekker, CEO of fish-feed giant Nutreco, has said that the interests of NGOs and the interest of the aquaculture industry can never go hand-in-hand because they follow opposing interests.
On the evidence of this program, it is hard to disagree.
Editor’s note: Click here to view Mike Urch’s previous commentary titled “WWF campaign against pangasius gathers pace.”
