Farmed Fish On Restaurant Menus Its Just As Healthy As Wild

Every day chefs prepare, and their restaurant menus feature, farmed fish and shellfish. This is good news for the nations health because fish and shellfish are health promoting.

Fish are an important dietary source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of "good fat" that the human body does not manufacture on its own, and so it must be regularly consumed to maintain healthy hearts, brains and vision. The USDA Nutrient lab has recently reported that the levels of omega-3 fatty acid found in farmed fish and wild fish are virtually the same. This is more good news for health.

With consumer demand for healthy fish rising, its even more good news that for the first time a consensus about water farming has emerged among experts from industry, science, government and environmental groups. This emerging consensus calls for the expansion of sustainable water farming, and is specifically supported by four points:

First, that water farming (aquaculture) is "the most efficient method of producing animal protein for the world," according to Barry Costa-Pierce, Professor and Director, Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program, University of Rhode Island.

Second, that "all major fisheries are being harvested at or over capacity," according to Brian Halweil of WorldWatch Institute.

Third, that unlike land farming, fish farming is a "nonconsumptive user of water," according to Larry Cope, President of Clear Springs Foods, an Idaho water farmer.

Fourth, that new evidence continues to validate strongly the health benefits of eating more fish. The evidence includes recent population studies and clinical trials, all demonstrating the "multiple human health benefits of fish and omega-3 fatty acids," disclosed Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University.

This important new consensus was reached at a three-day science and policy conference in Baltimore February 12-14, 2002, called "Water Farming, the Worlds Future." The Conference was organized by Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust of Boston.

A report detailing the widely-varying perspectives on a broad spectrum of water farming issues, was released by Oldways at the Baltimore Conference. The report, called Heads or Tails, covers more than 20 issues, including international trade, sustainability, diseases, wild stock, conservation, and human health, among others. For instance, the important fact that the USDA has found little difference between the levels of omega-3 fatty acids found in farmed and "wild" fish was reported in Heads or Tails?

This Conference brought together diverse interests from industry, leading scientists and governmental and other organizations including the EPA, USDA, NOAA, NFI, World Bank, Maine Aquaculture Association, Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, WorldWatch Institute, Environmental Defense Fund, Conservation Law Foundation and others; chefs and the media. The scientific co-chairs were Cliff Goudey, Director, Center for Fisheries engineering Research, MIT Sea Grant College Program, and Barry Costa-Pierce, Professor and Director, Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program, University of Rhode Island.

"Water Farming, the Worlds Future" was the first public conference of the Oldways multi-year Water Farming Initiative (WFI). The next phase of the Initiative will develop the specifics of agreements among interested parties to allow for and encourage the expansion of sustainable water farming.

"Where we go from here," said K. Dun Gifford, President and founder of the nonprofit Oldways, "is to educate consumers, journalists and policy-makers that sustainable water farming is the best choice - nutritionally, environmentally, and economically - to feed a hungry world."

Oldways is a Boston-based nonprofit educational