How Organic is Fish?

As America's Baby Boom generation pays more attention to eating healthy, the organic food industry has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years. By some estimates, almost $30 billion worth of organic foods will be sold in the U.S. next year.

Hovering over the organic food industry is the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which has the final say on what practices and procedures must be followed in order for producers to put the coveted "organic" label on their products.

Since more and more consumers are willing to pay a sizeable premium for all things organic, it's not surprising that businesses big and small are scrambling to meet the growing demand. That's why you may have noticed some stores and restaurants touting their organic seafood lately.

The problem, however, is that the NOSB has no standards when it comes to what seafood can be called organic. At its most recent meeting this March, the NOSB finally decided to allow fish farmers that produce fish in closed systems such as ponds to label their fish organic if - among other things - they feed their fish a diet largely composed of organic grain-based feeds. That means farm-raised fish that eat mostly grains (think tilapia and catfish) will eventually be allowed to use the USDA organic label.

So what should you do given all the confusion over what is - and isn't - organic seafood?

When it comes to fish that are raised in cages in open waters on a diet composed largely of fish meal (think salmon), things aren't nearly as simple. Environmental groups, many of which adamantly oppose feeding fish to fish, have lobbied the NOSB to exclude fish raised in cages on diets mainly composed of fish meal from being labeled organic. Because of the intense pressure, the NOSB decided to postpone a decision on the issue until its upcoming meeting this fall.

(The environmentalists' argument that feeding fish meal to fish is depleting stocks of "industrial" fish like sardines and pilchards is itself a red herring. These fish would be caught anyway and used to feed pigs and chickens. However, because salmon and other fish convert feed much more efficiently than poultry or livestock, feeding fish to fish is a more sustainable way to produce protein.)

Nevertheless, farmed fish, including salmon, is already being certified organic by independent agencies such as Germany's Naturland and Quality Certification Services in the U.S. However, since USDA does not have its own organic standards in place for seafood, legally this fish cannot be labeled organic in the U.S. Since enforcement by the USDA is minimal at best, it's no surprise that more "organic" fish is being sold to consumers.

Sidelined in the debate over organic seafood are wild seafood producers and shellfish farmers. The USDA has decided that developing organic standards for an animal that may roam thousands of miles across the sea is simply too complex, as there is no way to know exactly where that fish has been and what it has eaten. This policy infuriates wild seafood producers (especially ones in Alaska - where fish farming is banned) who argue that how could any animal be more organic than one that spends its whole life in a totally naturally environment subsisting on a totally natural diet. Shellfish farmers, meanwhile, will likely have to wait a long time before the NOSB figures out how it can come up with organic standards for their industry.

So what should you do given all the confusion over what is - and isn't - organic seafood? First, ask questions and be wary of marketing hype. If the person selling you organic seafood can't explain where it comes from, why it's organic and who certified it, it's probably not worth a premium price. Second, relax. Organic or not, there's no healthier protein you can enjoy.

All the Best,

Peter Redmayne
President
Simply Seafood®