Canadian farmed fish can now be certified as organic with the release of made-in-Canada standards.
The inaugural Canadian Organic Aquaculture Standard, to be released Thursday, prohibits the use of antibiotics, herbicides and genetically modified organisms, and severely restricts the use of parasiticides. The standard also sets measurable requirements for practices that minimize the impact of waste, including defining stocking rates, cleaning procedures and cleaning and feed materials that must be used.
The final standards, prepared by a special committee of the federal government’s Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) and approved by the Standards Council of Canada, look different from a draft proposal released in 2010. The early draft was widely criticized by consumer advocates and environmentalists for proposing to permit the use of antibiotics and parasiticides at levels already being met by the conventional aquaculture industry.
Some opponents also argued that the concepts of organic and net-pen aquaculture are incompatible.
But the final version, while banning the use of antibiotics, still has critics, with one leading conservation group that voted against the final version as a member of the CGSB committee saying it “has as many holes as a net pen.”
In addition to this assessment by the Living Oceans Society, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, which also voted against the standard alongside the Vancouver-based group, said the “weak” standard threatens the integrity of all organic labels because they include open-net pen finfish, despite scientific studies linking this farming practice to detrimental impacts on wild salmon and on the marine environment.
Justin Henry, chairman of the CGSB’s organic aquaculture committee, acknowledged not everyone will be happy with the final product. But he said it’s tougher than the early draft and the final version received support from a majority of committee members.
“There have been significant changes. With such huge diversity in types of aquaculture, it was a long and challenging process to get input from all the different user groups and different types of farmers. There are some that feel that the standard could be more restrictive and probably even more that think it’s too restrictive,” Henry said in an interview.
“The focus is to provide an environment to prevent any disease from happening, thereby negating the requirements for antibiotics. Nevertheless, if you treat, then those fish have to come out of the organic chain,” added Henry, general manager at Target Marine, a fish farm in Sechelt, B.C.
Meanwhile, the new Canadian standard will permit the limited use of parasiticides. But operators with an organic designation will have to have a comprehensive plan to minimize any problems with parasites, such as sea lice. And for fish under the age of one, there can only be one treatment. Older fish can undergo no more than two treatments, and will have to wait at least 14 days (or double the legal withdrawal time) before being processed for food.
“An operator will not be able to treat over and over and maintain an organic status,” said Henry. “It’s very restrictive.”
The treatment of pen nets with antifoulants is also not permitted.
Kelly Roebuck, the Livings Oceans Society representative on the CGSB committee, singled out the use of synthetic pesticides and the unrestricted use of non-organic feed for finfish as particular problems. She pointed out there is a 100 per cent organic feed requirement currently in place for all other organic livestock.
Roebuck also criticized the process, saying the Canadian General Standards Board’s Committee on Aquaculture was dominated by industry officials with the backing of government officials.
“It was biased from the start. This was really a standard that was created by the government and industry to be able to okay the status quo in conventional aquaculture practices,” said Roebuck.
Groups representing producers (14) outnumbered consumer associations (two), conservation groups (two) and a lone aboriginal group. The committee also was comprised of six officials from various government departments, including Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which kick-started the process in 2008.
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