LENOIR CITY, Tenn. (WVLT)– Fresh is always better, however, most of our food travels for thousands of miles before it hits our table. But a local business is trying to change that by using “aquaponics”. Read more …
May 182012
May 102012
As her once-thriving construction business dried up after the crash — as she found herself spending more of her days laying off employees and fighting with customers to get paid — Gina Cavaliero spent her evenings searching the Internet for a recession-proof business.
She was looking for something, anything, that would not vaporize with a market downturn. Finally, along with business partner Tonya Penick, she decided that when the going gets tough, the tough need to get growing. Read more …
May 092012
Five years ago, algae was the “it” feedstock in the biofuel realm. The idea of taking an organism that feeds off of CO2 and using it to create fuel was as intoxicating to research scientists as it was to venture capitalists. Financing was available to fund the placement of extremely expensive photobioreactors next to power plants. Decades-old research from the National Renewable Energy Lab proved that some strains of algae could effectively be used to create high-grade fuels. Startup CEOs talked of being able to produce algae-based biofuels cheaply and at a large scale within the three to five years. Read more …
OCTABlog has interviewed aquaculture expert, Bill Manci. In the interview he talked policy and food security. Mr. Manci also shared his thoughts on:
- Recirculating Aquaculture Systems
- Starting an aquaculture operation
- Expanding an aquaculture operation
Bill Manci, president of Fisheries Technology Associates, Inc., created the company in 1982 after receiving his formal training in zoology and fisheries science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and after a six-year career in aquaculture research. Bill has been a consultant since 1980 and has worked on many types of aquaculture and fish farming projects throughout the U.S.A. and other nations. He also has published more than 300 technical and popular articles on the subjects of aquaculture and fish farming, and served as an expert witness in aquaculture and fisheries-related litigation.
Read the interview here.
When it comes to the food used to raise fish in aquaculture “farms,” it seems that you may get what you pay for. In a new study, researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) looked at the health effects of raising farmed fish on a diet incorporating less than the usual amount of fishmeal—a key but expensive component of current commercial fish food products. They learned that reduced fishmeal diets may be cheaper, but the fish were less healthy. Read more …
May 022012
The University of Colorado will host a double-header of fish-farming documentaries next week to explore the industry that produces half the fish consumed today. Fish farming isn’t black or white, good or bad, said CU grad Sarah Curry, who worked on both films. ”That’s what makes it an interesting and hard subject to talk about,” Curry said. Read more …
Aquaculture: Growth in seafood imports from aquaculture
With continued pressure on wild harvest seafood stocks, products from aquaculture are expected to bridge the gap between the growing worldwide demand for seafood products and the limited growth potential of wild harvest resources. Over the last decade, imports of farm-raised seafood products have grown from a relatively small portion of total US seafood imports to become the dominant source of certain seafood products. Much of this growth has been driven by the increasing percentage of total US seafood consumed away from home. Due to this linkage to the away-from-home food market, demands for many imported seafood products are tied to the state of the US economy. Other factors impacting the demands are the strength of the US dollar relative to other currencies and the prices of competing protein products such as beef, pork, and poultry. Read more …
Apr 192012
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it is taking three steps to protect public health and promote the judicious use of medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals.Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria or other microbes develop the ability to resist the effects of a drug. Once this occurs, a drug may no longer be as effective in treating various illnesses or infections. Because it is well established that all uses of antimicrobial drugs, in both humans and animals, contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance, it is important to use these drugs only when medically necessary. Based on a consideration of relevant reports and scientific data, FDA is proposing a voluntary initiative to phase in certain changes to how medically important antimicrobial drugs are labeled and used in food-producing animals. FDA is taking this action to help preserve the effectiveness of medically important antimicrobials for treating disease in humans. Read more …
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has been accredited to certify processors, distributors and other participants in the supply chain of custody under the new Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards, effective immediately.
Companies that wish to sell responsibly farmed seafood products that carry the ASC label can now apply for Chain of Custody certification from SCS. The ASC ecolabel is applicable to eight major farmed species groups, with standards that assure responsible aquaculture farming practices. In addition, accreditation to the chain of custody standard is a major milestone toward achieving accreditation to conduct farm level certification. Read more …
Sushi lovers, set down your chopsticks. Recent tests on seafood sold at Los Angeles-area sushi bars, restaurants and grocery stores find that 55% of seafood is mislabeled.
Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, collected 119 seafood samples from grocery stores, restaurants and sushi eateries in L.A.and Orange counties in May and December 2011. Species found to be mislabeled in previous studies and those with regional significance, including wild salmon, Dover or other regional soles, red snapper, yellowtail and white tuna, were targeted. DNA testing concluded the shocking mislabeled percentage. Read more …
