One Company's Profits vs Omega-3 Health Benefits in Fish
via Flickr’s Tanya & SteveGreenTracker| Many consumers choose supplements over fleshy bits as guilt-free ways of getting nutrients into their bodies. Few of us think about the fish behind fish oil supplements and whether moral or environmental issues apply.
Until Dec. 2009 we knew nothing of menhaden, identified recently as “The Most Important Fish in the Sea.”
Menhaden filter-feed nearly exclusively on algae, the most abundant forage in the world, and are prolifically good at converting that algae into omega-3 fatty acids and other important proteins and oils. They also form the basis of the Atlantic Coast’s marine food chain. via NYTimes
In the biosystem of ocean life, menhaden are eaten by bluefin tuna, striped bass, redfish and bluefish. Menhaden is the biological catalyist in activating their own omega-3 fatty acids. A decrease in menhaden supplies impacts the entire ecosystem of fish and their valuable supply of omega-3s.
Like so many species, manhaden is under assault and some US states have taken action. Harvesting menhaden is outlawed every in the Atlantic except in Virginia.
Omega Protein of Houston harvest 90 percent of all manhaden, taken from the seas, about half a billion manhaden taken out of the ecosystem by one company allowed to fish in federal waters. Omega Protein is virtually unregulated, leaving the Baltimore Sun to argue ‘These Fish Need a Better Lobby.’
In late Jan 2011, a plan to take menhaden management out of the hands of state lawmakers in Virginia failed. The Virginian-Pilot wrote in an editorial:
“Here, the General Assembly’s predictable collapse this session is another symptom of just how powerful Omega has become. Its executives can avoid meeting with legislators without fear of consequence. The company can bend the ears and will of lawmakers who otherwise are reliable votes for the heal of the Bay.”
Share Article Wed, February 16, 2011 1 Comment in America, Nature tagged biosphere, bluefin tuna, endangered species, fishing, menhaden, oceans, omega-3, overfishing, sustainability
Reader Comments (1)
We need to get Congress to act to stop the menhaden reduction industry, which is devastating the marine ecology of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Every person can also make a contribution by examining the label on fish oil capsules. If the label lists "menhaden" or "herring" as an ingredient, don't buy it.