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Issue link: https://seafoodbusiness.epubxp.com/i/72022
U.S. News WASHINGTON, D.C. GM salmon fi rm on life support T he U.S. Senate in late May rejected an amendment by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska that would have re- quired genetically modifi ed (GM) salmon to undergo the same scientifi c and economic analysis required of all fed- eral fi sheries before gaining approval for sale. After the 50-46 vote, Murkowski expressed disap- pointment but confi dence that GM salmon, which she referred to as "frankenfi sh" and "test tube fi sh," will fail. Murkowski wants the Food and Drug Administration to allow the National Oceanic Worker-visa rule delay a relief to processors T e U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations approved a fi scal year 2013 bill and approved a one-year delay of new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rules govern- ing most workers involved in the H-2B visa program. Many U.S. seafood compa- nies in places like Maryland and Louisiana rely on H-2B workers to fulfi ll process- ing roles like shucking oys- ters and picking crabmeat — unskilled jobs that few American workers are will- ing to do. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama says that proposed rule changes to in- crease visiting workers' pay by up to 50 percent would "crush" U.S. businesses that rely on temporary labor. T e amendment will delay implementation of the rules until at least October 2013. Jack Brooks, president of the Coalition to Save Amer- ica's Seafood Industry and president of J.M. Clayton Co. in Cambridge, Md., is pleased that the committee and Atmospheric Adminis- tration "to participate in and weigh in on the environmen- tal consequences that may come about as a result of [GM salmon] being released into the environment." She adds that the FDA isn't looking at impacts of potential escapes. Dr. Ronald Stotish, presi- and CEO of Aqua- dent Bounty Technologies, testi- fi ed before a congressional subcommittee in December that all the fi sh are females reared in a land-based system that would virtually elimi- nate any chance of escapes. members "appreciate the danger" posed by the new rules. "We embrace some of DOL's basic concepts. But additional, onerous require- ments cannot be accepted without grievous harm to the industry and the loss of thou- sands of American jobs." U.S. moving ahead with organic aquaculture T e U.S. Department of Agriculture is moving ahead with the rulemaking process for organic aquaculture pro- duction and certifi cation. Miles McEvoy, deputy ad- ministrator of the National Organic Program (NOP), expects the rulemaking pro- cess to take two years. His May memorandum formally asked the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to review a list of substances to be added to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for use in organic aquaculture and whether the substances are compliant with the Organic Foods Produc- tion Act. Existing rules do not allow any seafood to bear the For updated NEWS, go to www.SeafoodSource.com scientists preliminarily deter- mined Salmon is In September 2010, FDA that AquAdvantage safe for human consumption, but an advisory committee subsequently de- termined that more research was needed. It's been more than 15 years since Aqua- Bounty submitted its fi rst GM fi sh study to the FDA. T e Massachusetts compa- ny's technology allows Atlan- tic salmon to grow to market size of 8 pounds in 18 months, or half the standard time. Kakha Bendukidze, former economics minister of Geor- gia and AquaBounty's larg- est shareholder, told the New York Times the company can stay afl oat a while longer, but that he's skeptical that GM "USDA Organic" label due to the lack of standards for organic aquaculture produc- tion and certifi cation, though some seafood products are labeled as organic if certifi ed by a third-party outfi t such as Naturland in Germany. U.S. fi rms react slowly to Korean mollusk alert Many U.S. distributors, re- tailers and foodservice opera- tors had yet to remove Korean mollusks from the market- place a month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administra- tion initially warned of a safe- ty risk. An FDA investigation found signifi cant defi ciencies with Korea's program — in- adequate sanitary controls, Off THE SHELF Top to bottom: There isn't a seafood company in the world that couldn't benefi t from having "The Seafood Industry: Species, Products, Processing, and Safety" somewhere in the building. Details of harvesting, handling and processing of fi nfi sh and shellfi sh are all covered in 29 informative chapters — everything from bottom trawling to brining to byproducts. Edited by Linda Ankenman Granata, George J. Flick Jr. and Roy E. Martin, this is a must-have second-edition text for anyone in the business. Published by Wiley-Blackwell (www.wiley.com/go/food). July 2012 SeaFood Business 7 fi sh will pass in an election year and with resistance from lawmakers and environmen- tal and consumer groups. AquaBounty reported a net loss of $2.7 million in 2011, a year Stotish called "frustrating" even though it was an improvement from 2010, when it posted a $5.3 million net loss. ineff ective management of land-based pollution sources and detection of norovirus in shellfi sh-growing areas. T e agency re-circulated its ad- visory in mid-June because many companies missed the alert or ignored it altogether, according to FDA spokes- man Curtis Allen. Included in the alert are all fresh, frozen, canned and processed oysters, clams, mussels and whole and roe-on scallops from Korea. Korean mollusks represent only a fraction of total U.S. mollusk imports, and oysters represented the bulk of U.S. imports of Korean mollusks, totaling about 8.5 million pounds last year, according to NOAA Fisheries. Photo courtesy of AquaBounty Technologies