What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

infinity — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:22:54 GMT

I did not read the whole article but as Dr. M. sd, it really depends on which corporations, trawlers, etc. I keep on about this, but the Pk Slope Food Co-op sells AquaSource, sea trout, catfish & raw tuna. They state on their labeling and have filed with us a statement that they rotate among several ponds, clean out ponds regularly and dispose of the "waste" as fertilizer (I don't remember all details). There are times when due to high demand, we don't have much of their fish in our freezer because they are midst a cleanup, and./or they do not sell the smaller fish. Our staff check out suppliers, as does our Environmental Committee; and individual members like myself do our own personal checkups. So I believe our particular supplier does a good job. I don't recall exactly what they feed their fish, but it inlcudes veggie matter. We also sell other brands of prepared foods (swordfish, scallops, cod fillets, etc. I prefer not to eat this stuff, too much carbohydrates, fats, in the coating. So, again, join a group, a buying club, a co-op and you'll have the power to control much more. Gaye

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Rick O — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:00:49 GMT

Gres S - of course we human beings have the right to be healthy. I am a Christian and believe God gave mankind the earth to use. However, we are not to abuse it. there is a big difference between use and abuse. When we waste food by only using 5% and throwing away the other 95%, or create toxic swamps or kill so many of a species that we make them extinct - then we are seriously abusing what God gave us. We have a choice - learn how to responsibly use nature's bounty or deplete it and die.

The passenger pigeon used to swarm over the North American continent, providing abundant wild game. The bison thundered across the prairie, providing nourishment and fur to the Native Americans. We caused the extinction of the pigeons and almost wiped out the buffalo. We need to learn the lessons from our history and change our behavior so that our grandchildren can continue to enjoy the harvests from the oceans in a sustainable, healthy fashion.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

wulfbourne — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:51:09 GMT

What about farmed tilapia. They eat algae, not other fish. You can grow them in a tank so that they are free of mercury and toxins. They are a possible co-product of an ethanol plant, using the heat from production to heat the tanks to the necessary 85 degrees. <br> ag.arizona.edu/.../DesMoinesRegister_com.htm

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Jack Root — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:10:42 GMT

Every individual has a responsibility to examine the source of food they consume. If that source is contaminated with melamine or is full of hormones or antibiotics, it is your responsibility to make that determination. Do you trust Big Brother? Do you trust that Big Brother will take care of you? Put money into the equation and see what happens. Big Brother will milk you like a cow! Be aware!

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

kingstukie — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:11:20 GMT

Anyone read Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America by Stephen Bloom?

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

tigator — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:14:55 GMT

I like what you said, GregS!

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Rose of Sharon — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:18:03 GMT

Hello? The problem is there are too many of us, but don't worry Mother Nature will take care of it one way or another. We may not like it though. I no longer think the Chinese emphasis on birth control is unreasonable.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Bilby — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:13:38 GMT

What about nile perch from Africa? This an introduced invasive species so it would be a good thing if it was fished out to extinction although this is unlikely to happen.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

revcarson — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:02:39 GMT

What I have never heard addressed is where does the fish feed come from. If it is sourced from China? If so you can bet they are adding the very dangerous melamine to it to get the "protein figures needed". We do have to question as more of this animal feed is becoming increasingly disturbing.

I don't want my animal foods to be eating foods that would be far too hamful for me to ingest.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Keith Lurie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:48:11 GMT

WHERE HAS ALL THE FISH GONE????? The idiotic policy of having a minimum size requirement, has resulted in all the big fish (breeders) being consumed. The irrational logic of "dont catch the small fish, throw them back so that we can catch them when they are bigger" has been the big problem. There needs to be a regulation maximum fish size, and fishermen will have to learn to brag about the big one that they released to go forth and multiply.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Ms. V — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:32:56 GMT

Dr. Mercola acts as if krill is endlessly renewable, but that's just not possible. Nothing is. Krill is very important in the ocean food chain, and if sales of krill oil skyrocket (as I'm sure Dr. Mercola would love to see them do) I'm quite sure that overharvesting of krill would become a problem for ocean life. What we need to know is at what point will it become a problem. Our oceans are so stressed nowadays that It might be a problem already.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Heather Marsh — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:53:13 GMT

at times I see the human race as being akin to a virus upon the earth.

How do we change enough to become sybiotic?

We seem unable to husband the earth's resources - but if we do not we will die with her.

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Gypsy Family Farm — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:28:54 GMT

Holy misinformation... or... where to begin?

I am an organic farmer who supplements my income with winter work on a local fish farm in one of the Great Lakes (Huron). I speak from first hand experience and knowledge, not from third hand "statistics".

- Wild fish stocks ARE nearly extinct (for the first time ever, over 50 % of our seafood is farm raised).

- We don't harvest chickens, turnips, eggs etc from the wild... why fish?!?!

- our fish farm is an extremely lively and biodiverse area. In fact, huge areas of the great lakes are becoming aquatic deserts because of the activities of invasive species introduced by man. Around responsible fish farms you will actually discover the life that used to teem throughout the lakes.

- We routinely dive around the cages, do water chemistry, sediment core analysis beneath the cages etc etc etc. We do so because the government and many special interest groups watch like vultures. We also do this because the owner believes in being a responsible land/water steward.

- We use no antibiotics.

- We raise a percentage of our fish (rainbow trout) without pigment (to create red flesh) and offer this to the market. Sadly, the market prefers a pigmented fish.

-Fish meal is a small percentage of our custom fish food which is mostly plant based and is sourced to be as free of GMO's as possible. The fish meal that is used is from fish NOT INTENDED FOR THE HUMAN FOOD CHAIN.

- We achieve a nearly 1:1 feed to weight gain ratio... this is higher than ANY land farmed meat and therefore a highly desirable alternative. Even the 1.9:1 quoted in the article is better than traditional farmed meat. This is the scare tactic used by statisticians... the numbers sound bad on their own, but once compared to the industry standard are NOT BAD.

-Wild fish contain contaminants such as Mercury and PCB's through the process of bio-accumulation. 0urs do not.

- To sum up - read stats carefully. Eat properly raised fish confidently. Choose ALL food with care!

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Cheryl Rounds — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:28:55 GMT

Beware of the term certified organic fish. In order to certify fish as organic they much be certain that the fish have eaten certified organic ffoods. Hence all certified organic fish is farm raised

re: What You Need to Know About Farmed Fish

Duparc — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:05:07 GMT

Here at Scotland, UK, during a storm a salmon famer lost his nets (or whatever one calls them) allowing the fish to escape, however, come feeding time the fish returned! Maybe there is a message here like breeding fish, training them, then letting them free into their natural environment but keep controlling them by continually feeding them. This must be worthy of trying.