EDFish

Charting a New Course Toward Sustainable Offshore Aquaculture

By / Bio / Published: May 19, 2021

Americans import over 85% of all the seafood we consume — and half of that is from foreign aquaculture. That means when it comes to the majority of farmed fish we eat, we’re exporting our environmental footprint while missing out on the opportunity to create greater resilience and jobs for our coastal communities here in the U.S. Also lost is the opportunity to lead the way in developing best practices for sustainable production of healthy seafood that meets the most stringent environmental and health standards. This is most true in building a sustainable marine aquaculture industry.

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Seaweeds to the rescue, redux

By / Bio / Published: February 23, 2021

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest and even excitement about how seaweed might be able to help save us from climate change.

I appreciate the newfound exuberance for seaweed, and wholeheartedly agree that seaweeds do a lot for society and the planet. A similar awakening to the wonders of seaweed occurred in the 1980s, but it is now a distant memory. Let’s revisit the past so we can figure out how to create the conditions that will drive the restoration of seaweed forests and the expansion of seaweed farming at scale so they can contribute to carbon drawdown while benefiting people and nature. Read More »

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World Food Day: Utilizing the ocean to feed the planet

By / Bio / Published: October 16, 2020

Today we celebrate World Food Day — the annual event that promotes global awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure healthy diets for all. But unique to this year is the coronavirus pandemic, which has created new and extraordinary challenges for the food and nutrition security of our global community. The importance of finding solutions that can feed a growing global population from nutritious and healthy resources has only exponentially increased in both urgency and priority. More than ever, we need to build back better in a way that improves human health, builds resiliency for populations and improves well-being — while simultaneously ensuring the long-term health and sustainability of our oceans. This World Food Day, we’re highlighting the oceans’ ability to feed the planet, sustainably and healthfully. Read More »

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Cell-based, cultured… or something else? The new seafood labeling challenge.

By / Published: September 22, 2020

By Tom Neltner, J.D., Environmental Defense Fund Chemicals policy director

Meat and seafood derived from animal cells grown outside the animal are likely coming to your kitchen table. The process involves culturing cells in tanks and combining them into a consumable product using extrusion, 3-D printing or other processes commonly used in food industry. The product is nearly identical to conventional meat and seafood. Read More »

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Everyone’s Gulf: inspiring a new generation of ocean advocates

By / Published: October 4, 2019

“I learned about sustainability that if you catch too many fish, you’ll catch them faster than they can reproduce … and there won’t be any more fish.”

A simple concept, but one that took decades to integrate into U.S. law — and one that Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) works to establish as an underlying fisheries management principle across the globe. And it’s a concept that we hoped to reinforce with an event we held in Jackson, Mississippi focused on connecting local youth to their seafood.

For Sadarius, a gregarious 11-year-old at Blackburn Middle School in Jackson, the idea made sense almost immediately. It was one of the core messages intended to impress upon students at Everyone’s Gulf, a collaborative project among Share the Gulf supporters EDF, Chef Nick Wallace, Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, Gulf Wild™, Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association, Silver Dollar Charters and of course, Blackburn Middle School. Read More »

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The promise and peril of manufactured seafood

By / Bio / Published: August 19, 2019

Credit: Marco Verch via Flickr Creative Commons

Today, there are only two ways to produce seafood: fishermen can catch wild fish, or fish can be farmed in a process called aquaculture. Both methods have many benefits, but also can have adverse impacts on the environment. A growing number of companies are trying to develop alternative ways to produce “seafood,” like “tuna” made by growing tuna cells in a lab.

Will these alternatives make it commercially? If they do, will that result in big environmental benefits or contribute to food security? Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently looked into these questions. Read More »

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