World: FAO proposes removing sustainable produce labels from farmed predatory fish

Organizers of the appeal note that “there is an urgent need to distinguish sustainable aquaculture, such as seaweed farming or small-scale bivalve shellfish farming, from that which is destructive. Farming of predatory fish such as salmon, sea bream and sea bass (branzino) is proving to be completely unsustainable. This industry is depleting the world's wild fish stocks and destroying marine ecosystems rather than supporting them." Despite the growing concerns, the letter's signatories note that FAO is committed to a 75 percent increase in global sustainable aquaculture by 2040, compared to 2020. "Most of the funding will go to destructive open-net marine carnivorous fish farms in places like Spain, Italy and Greece." Catalina Sendoya, director of Global Salmon Farming Resistance, based in Argentina, and co-organizer of the letter to FAO, adds: “Industrial fish farms are highly polluting due to the huge amounts of feces and waste produced, which create dead zones around the net. ...