The Pure Salmon Campaign, a global project of the National Environmental Trust working to raise standards for farm-raised fish, along with Todd Gray, executive chef of Equinox, today hosted a briefing to discuss new hidden costs of farmed salmon, explore solutions and explain why salmon raised in open-ocean net pens cannot be labeled as organic.

Next week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Standards Board will meet to recommend aquaculture standards for farmed salmon.  Any standards that would label farm-raised fish from open-ocean pens would contradict the true definition of "organic."

"The Organic Standards Board should not be allowed to modify or dilute its 'USDA Organic' label to accommodate salmon raised in open net cages,"said Joseph Mendelson, legal director, Center for Food Safety.  "If the organic label is to maintain its credibility among U.S. consumers, then core criteria of the standard must stay the same between terrestrial and aquaculture products." healthren.com

For years, farmed salmon has been associated with chemicals, parasites and escapes.  New studies and first-hand accounts reveal even bigger problems.  Salmon farming threatens villages and towns that rely on subsistence fishing for their jobs and diet.  Since February 2005, the Chilean government has reported that 17 laborers have died on the job while working at Chilean salmon farms.  Salmon farming also results in dead marine mammals. healthren.com

"We're not opposed to farmed salmon, but the industry needs to adopt major reforms now,"said Andrea Kavanagh, director, Pure Salmon Campaign, one of the groups participating in Farmed Salmon Exposed, a project organized by partner groups worldwide.  "When current practices threaten the lives and livelihoods of people as well as kill marine mammals, it's time for substantial changes."  healthren.com

This briefing is part of the Pure Salmon Campaign's week of global action.  Events in the U.S., Canada, South America and the U.K. will urge industry to adopt better business practices that protect the environment and its own workers.  healthren.com

The week of action features video testimonials that give voice to people worldwide who bear witness to the problems associated with open-net cage salmon farming.  The individuals range from a Chilean union leader talking about his colleagues and union members dying due to unsafe working conditions to Alaskan commercial fishermen who are outraged that salmon farmers who kill marine mammals can still sell their product in the U.S.  The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits U.S fishermen from harassing, let alone killing marine mammals.  healthren.com

The Pure Salmon Campaign is a global project of the National Environmental Trust. It has partners in the United States, Canada, the European Union and Chile all working to improve the way salmon is produced.