Joint statement: "The EU should only promote the consumption of aquaculture products that meet the highest environmental and social sustainability standards"

Yesterday, the European Commission launched a campaign to promote the consumption of EU aquaculture products. 

The undersigned members of the Food Policy Coalition Fisheries and Aquaculture taskforce welcome the campaign’s focus on several types of low-trophic aquaculture species such as algae and bivalves. This aligns with the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy, which calls for “growth of the EU aquaculture sector while ensuring its economic, environmental and social sustainability”. This also aligns with the Strategic Aquaculture Guidelines for 2030 (SAGs) which highlight the need to improve the social, environment, and animal welfare impacts of aquaculture, including by diversifying aquaculture production towards non-fed and low-trophic species with a lower environmental footprint. 

Recently, there have been concerning developments such as high mortality rates in salmon farming, and attempts by Member States to farm new carnivorous species such as bluefin tuna and octopuses, without regard for environmental and social impact nor animal welfare. We take the opportunity to remind the European Commission that this campaign should only promote projects that contribute to the SAG objectives, and which meet the highest environmental and social sustainability standards and animal welfare, in line with consumer demands.

Furthermore, this campaign should also align with the goals of the upcoming European Oceans Pact, which advocates for a sustainable blue economy. Some types of aquaculture are harmful through the exploitation of wild fish for feed  or pollution of sea waters from chemical discharges, including antibiotics. It should actively support aquaculture systems that do not harm marine ecosystems nor communities that depend on those healthy marine ecosystems for their livelihoods. The campaign should instead promote sustainable production, ensuring a truly responsible approach to the future of EU aquaculture.

Signatories

• Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA)

• Compassion in World Farming

• Eurogroup for Animals

• Feedback EU

• Seas At Risk

• The European Institute for Animal Law and Policy

Link to the joint statement.

Banner photo: A fish farm in the Isle of Skye, by Craig Thomas.

---