Sustainable Salmon
October’s importance continues as it is International Fair Trade Month. Besides seeing the phrase included on labels for gourmet chocolate and flavorful coffee, how many of us know what Fair Trade means?
Here are the cliff notes on Fair Trade principles:
- Fair price: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
- Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
- Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
- Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
- Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.
- Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.
(taken from Fair Trade USA’s mission statement)
All of these tenets seem easy enough to shop by right? Most of us do incorporate systems that enable empowerment, integrity, sustainable practices, community, fairness and impact into our lives but we tend to enact these principles on a very local level. What about our favorite products that don’t come from down the street or the local farmers market?
The Fair Trade model forges a direct link between social and environmental sustainability globally. Fair Trade USA requires rigorous protection of local ecosystems ensuring that farmers receive a harvest price that allows them to practice sustainable agriculture. Farmers are also encouraged to transition to organic agricultural practice as it is safer for farm workers, healthier for consumers and better for the environment.
One new product that has caught my eye this month is the Loch Duart Organically & Sustainably Farmed Salmon. But before I talk about the product, I need to set up the scenario so everyone can understand the importance of organically and sustainably farmed salmon…
Salmon farms where parasites, specifically sea lice, breed can in fact smother juvenile wild salmon—and is. This epidemic has led to wild salmon extinction in British Columbia, Norway and elsewhere, according to many experts. The damage allegedly caused by open-ocean fish farms has led to many streams suffering from a rapid decline of wild pink salmon runs and ultimately causing runs to go extinct entirely. However, that’s not the only root of the issue. We have created an insatiable need and desire for salmon in our Dragon Rolls, atop our bagels and cream cheese and of course in endless dishes accented by spices like dill, cayenne, Jerk blends, Old Bay, bay leaves…and that’s just to get your brain moving. Have you thought about the marinades you enjoy so much? Can you count the number of ways you have enjoyed salmon? My best friend’s family is from Norway and for as long as I can remember salmon is nearly considered a condiment as it can be served with every dish.
If salmon’s ever decreasing population was not enough of a reason to think about where and from whom you purchase fillets, consider what’s being added to salmon to maintain consumer satisfaction.
Alastair Bland, writer, explains that “Emamectin benzoate, marketed as Slice, is still a mainstay of the industry, used almost ubiquitously to reduce levels of sea lice within fish pens. Its effects on native crustaceans, like lobsters and crabs, in the surrounding environment are not fully understood though are suspected to be negative. Worse, perhaps, Slice is losing effectiveness around the globe as sea lice develop genetic resistance to the agent, posing potentially huge problems for the future of salmon farms and the wild salmon that share the same waters. Nearly all farmed salmon is colored artificially via astaxanthin and canthaxanthin, coloring agents blended into the fish’s feed. Without these compounds, the salmon’s flesh would remain a dull, pasty gray. Canthaxanthin at high dosages has been linked in humans to retinal damage, partial loss of vision and a serious blood disorder called aplastic anemia.” All this for a pretty pink color?
And then there’s Loch Duart, the first producer of Freedom Food salmon. Located in Sutherland, Scotland, Loch Duart fosters two hatcheries in Eddrachillies Bay. 
The two hatcheries are farmed in rotation enabling proper regeneration for the facility and the maintaining of a clean environment. Loch Duart’s overall objective for their salmon is to mimic as natural a life cyle as possible for the salmon. They employ the following methods to their farming: significantly lower stocking densities of fish so fish can grow properly enough natural space; feeding regimes duplicate the natural world’s irregular feeding cycles; no growth promoters or antibiotics are used; no antifoulants are used; all feed comes from non genetically modified sources; all fish in stock can be traced back to eggs and forbears.
So fish farming isn’t all that bad when done properly. The commitment to lessening the environmental impact of farming salmon is not just an idea or a sign at Loch Duart. They audit their operations regularly and continue to educate employees and consumers alike. The company has won numerous awards including the first Gold Award for Best Food from the London Telegraph. Their website is filled with information including a seasonal guide to taste and color of your fish.
So in honor of Fair Trade Month this year, spend some time looking at your labels. Sure, it takes an extra 30 to 40 seconds here and there while you peruse the aisles but the payoff of a few extra minutes might be stewarding a healthy population of fish for future generations, especially if farmed fish becomes our only source.
TP
