USDA Organic Standards for Salmon will Support Net Pen Aquaculture, Likely Spark Fight with NGOs
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Undercurrent News] by Matt Whittaker February 24, 2015
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is closing in on a long-awaited organic certification standard for aquaculture, with the eco-label the industry has been pining for possibly appearing on farm-raised seafood in supermarkets by 2017.
The department expects to release a proposed rule for organic aquaculture certification in April or May, with the Office of Management and Budget then having 90 days to review it before publication in late summer, Miles McEvoy, deputy director of the department’s National Organic Program, told an audience at an industry gathering Saturday.
The proposed rule will include shellfish, marine and recirculating system methods of aquaculture, as well as the controversial net-pen method, he said.
The USDA is anticipating opposition to the inclusion of net pens in its proposed rule for organic aquaculture certification, said Miles McEvoy, deputy director of the department’s National Organic Program.
Nevertheless, the method will be included alongside shellfish...
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