Farmed B.C. salmon could soon carry federal organic label

Sarah Schmidt
July 14, 2010
Montreal Gazette

OTTAWA — Farmed fish raised in open net pens in the ocean — blamed for threatening wild salmon on the West Coast — could soon have Canada's organic stamp of approval on their packaging if the federal government implements its plan for new organic aquaculture standards.

The summer consultations have just begun, but the draft proposal, presented by the Canadian General Standards Board and organic aquaculture working group at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, has already fired up a debate about the industry's environmental practices and whether the move just muddies the meaning of "organic" for consumers.

Ottawa's proposed organic certification system for farmed fish also puts Canada at odds with the United States, where draft rules of the U.S. National Standards Board would disqualify non-native species that are raised in open net pens from carrying the U.S. government's organic label.

This would mean the overwhelming majority of fish produced by B.C. salmon farms would fail the U.S. organic test, but meet the proposed Canadian standards.

While Atlantic Canada has some aquaculture operators, salmon farming is now the single-largest food production sector in the B.C. economy, providing farmed Atlantic salmon to consumers across Canada and internationally.

B.C. is also the world's fourth-largest farmed salmon producer in the world, after Norway, Chile and Scotland, according to the federal government.

Read the full story in the Montreal Gazette.

Related stories:

• KPLU Radio; August 20, 2010; "Organic Label for BC Farmed Fish?"