In Canada, organic salmon meets resistance

More than 50 organizations, businesses and fishermen from Canada and the United States on Friday submitted a joint letter to the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) opposing a proposed draft Organic Standards for Finfish Aquaculture.

British Columbia-based Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR), along with the other signatories, is calling on the CGSB to overhaul the current draft and develop organic aquaculture standards that are in line with basic organic principles.

The proposed standards would cover the certification of seaweed and shellfish as well as finfish. But the most troublesome part of the standards relate to the production of fish raised in open net pens, according to CAAR. As they are written now, the finfish standards would grant organic certification for salmon farmed in open net pens despite evidence linking this production method to wild salmon declines and other impacts on the marine environment, said CAAR. The current standards would also allow fish farmers to use pesticides and non-organic, possibly unsustainable, feed sources, added the organization.

“Consumers, organic farmers, conservation organizations, fishermen and scientists all agree that these proposed standards fail to meet our expectation of what’s behind the organic label,” said Kelly Roebuck of Living Oceans Society, a CAAR member. “The Canadian government has to do better than this or their actions will threaten the integrity of all Canada’s organic agriculture products. Such weak aquaculture standards undermine producers who are innovating in order to deliver more responsible products like closed containment salmon.”

The CGSB is accepting public comment on the draft Organic Aquaculture Standards until 31 May.

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