Nutrition

January 27, 2015 — Karimi has found that farmed and wild salmon are high in omega-3’s compared with shrimp, tuna and other fish, and they are generally very low in mercury, a particular concern for pregnant women and young children.

Q: Is eating farm-raised fish better than eating no fish? 

A: Experts have raised concerns about farm-raised fish.

In some cases, the animals are raised on unnatural diets and crammed into small enclosures that can promote toxins and breed disease, prompting aquaculture operators to rely heavily on antibiotics.

But farming practices are improving, and consumers have a number of healthy and eco-friendly farmed options, said Tim Fitzgerald, a scientist and sustainable seafood expert at the Environmental Defense Fund. A few of the farmed varieties that are produced responsibly are also relatively high in omega-3 fatty acids, the polyunsaturated fats that promote cardiovascular health. They include arctic char, rainbow trout and oysters, he said.

Read the full story at the Herald-Tribune

NEW YORK, N.Y. — January 22, 2015 — A new study says that women may not need to limit fish intake during pregnancy out of fear of exposing their unborn child to mercury.

Researchers tested the hair and blood of over 1,200 pregnant women and compared them to behavioral questionnaires and surveys on their children. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, says that the mothers and their children were observed from pregnancy until their children turned 20 months old.

Read the full story from KTIC

January 15, 2015 — Most of the recipes in Ben Pollinger’s debut cookbook, School of Fish, are what you’d expect from the executive chef at the Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurant Oceana: crisp-skinned striped bass with tomato-basil risotto; flounder barigoule with artichokes and potatoes; poached scallops with pea shoots, sugar snaps, walnuts, and orange vinaigrette.

But nestled among the instructions for fish fumet and soft-shell crab saltimbocca is a version of that mainstay comfort fare of family meals and potluck suppers of decades past—the tuna noodle casserole, Pollinger’s favorite food as a kid. “My mom was a ’70s-era cook who learned from recipes on the back of boxes and cans,” says Pollinger (CAS’95). “Almost all of her repertoire included a can of Campbell’s soup. This one was a staple—a box of elbow macaroni, two cans of tuna, two cans of cream of mushroom soup, and topped with crushed potato chips.”

Pollinger gave his mother’s recipe a reboot a few years ago, when he was asked to cook an iconic dish from childhood for a charity event. He whipped up a mushroom sauce from scratch (mushrooms, butter, onion, garlic, flour, milk) and used fresh, poached tuna steak. It was a hit, he says.

Read the full story from BU Today

December 18, 2014 — Fish sticks made way for a different sea bounty at schools throughout the Seacoast on Wednesday, Dec. 11, when locally caught Acadian redfish was prepared and served in the cafeteria.

Oyster River High School was one nine schools involved in the "Fish to School" project. Doris Demers is cafeteria director for the Oyster River School District, which includes Mastaway Elementary, Moharimet Elementary, and both Oyster River middle and high schools.   She has been working with local farms over the last two years to establish a Farm to School program, where local produce is served as a part of the school lunch program. Demers was excited by the opportunity to include locally sourced fish.

"We serve a ton of local food, but this is our first Fish to School," she said. "I am a fish lover and to be in New England, on the Seacoast, and not serve real fish just seems wrong."

She said local sourcing could not be done without the strong community support the Oyster River School District receives from families, area farmers, and the University of New Hampshire.

Tom Kenaley, a cafeteria worker, planned and executed the preparation of the fish at the high school Dec. 11.

"Acadian redfish is a very milky fish that lends itself well to a variety of preparations," Kenaley said. "We are serving two fillets, lightly breaded, stuffed with a mixture of broccoli and mozzarella, wrapped and baked. I feel like this is a good replacement for the whitefish species people are more familiar with."

Read the full story from Seacoast Online

 

December 8, 2014 — A piece of farmed salmon today may contain as little as half the amount of omega-3s than it did a decade ago.

When Amanda West Reade was pregnant with her now two-year-old son, she started eating farmed salmon. As a vegetarian, she knew that getting enough protein, omega-3s, and folic acid to boost her growing baby’s development might be tricky.

“My doctor listed a few meal ideas and I thought I could handle the salmon,” says Reade. “She said to lean more towards farmed salmon because it was higher in omega-3s.”

Reade followed her doctor’s advice and added farmed salmon to her diet three times a week. “It became something I really craved,” she says.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are good for the brain and eye development of growing babies and salmon has been a go-to meal for those looking for a reliable a low-mercury fish source. When it comes to omega-3 fatty acids, the message is the clear: All salmon is a good choice.

But that might soon change. A piece of farmed salmon today may contain as little as half the amount of omega-3s than it did a decade ago.

This is according to the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO), a trade group that represents stakeholders in the marine ingredient industry. The group is sounding the alarm over declining levels of omega-3s in farmed salmon.

Read the full story from Time Magazine

 

December 8, 2014 — A piece of farmed salmon today may contain as little as half the amount of omega-3s than it did a decade ago.

When Amanda West Reade was pregnant with her now two-year-old son, she started eating farmed salmon. As a vegetarian, she knew that getting enough protein, omega-3s, and folic acid to boost her growing baby’s development might be tricky.

“My doctor listed a few meal ideas and I thought I could handle the salmon,” says Reade. “She said to lean more towards farmed salmon because it was higher in omega-3s.”

Reade followed her doctor’s advice and added farmed salmon to her diet three times a week. “It became something I really craved,” she says.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are good for the brain and eye development of growing babies and salmon has been a go-to meal for those looking for a reliable a low-mercury fish source. When it comes to omega-3 fatty acids, the message is the clear: All salmon is a good choice.

But that might soon change. A piece of farmed salmon today may contain as little as half the amount of omega-3s than it did a decade ago.

This is according to the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO), a trade group that represents stakeholders in the marine ingredient industry. The group is sounding the alarm over declining levels of omega-3s in farmed salmon.

Read the full story from Time Magazine

 

December 2, 2014 — Scallops are sweet, mild and tender–ideal for anyone with a casual affinity for shellfish. If they are really fresh, you can eat them raw. Yet they are rarely served at home. This is actually a terrific time of the year to try scallops in the Northeast that come out of Peconic Bay in Long Island and Taylor Bay in Nantucket.

Cooking them correctly requires a few simple steps. The most important one is to sear them well enough to create a golden crust without overcooking them in the center. To strike this balance, use dry room-temperature scallops.

“You need to buy dry sea scallops,” says chef Ed McFarland of Ed’s Lobster Bar in NYC. The difference between dry and wet scallops is enormous, yet it is only subtly advertised. That’s for a reason. Wet scallops are injected with water to puff them up and make them look bigger. They seem impressive, but the added water content dilutes the flavor and makes it too moist to develop that crust.

“If you buy a wet scallop, it’s almost impossible to get a nice sear on it,” McFarland says. Pay a bit more to get the unadulterated stuff: dry scallops. At Ed’s Lobster Bar, McFarland uses diver scallops, which is ”a nice way of saying that they actually go down to the bottom and pick it up as opposed to dredging for them.”

Read the full story at Forbes

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] — November 25, 2014 — Safeway set a goal that all of its fresh and frozen seafood will be responsibly sourced and traceable or in a time-bound improvements process by the end of 2015.

According to the company, 70% of its fresh and frozen seafood is now "responsibly sourced," up from 51% at the end of 2013.

Responsibly sourced seafood is fished or farmed in a way that safeguards future seafood supplies while minimizing impacts on surrounding ecosystems. Safeway relies on ratings developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) Seafood Watch program as well as certifications to ensure its seafood purchases are responsibly sourced.

Safeway says it is shifting sourcing practices to make sure that it sells seafood rated “Best Choice” or “Good Alternative” by the MBA. For example, Safeway now sources California halibut from well-managed US fisheries that avoid harmful interactions with sea turtles. Other species where purchasing has shifted since January are farmed shrimp, Caribbean lobster, wild salmon, mahi mahi, yellowfin and albacore tuna.

Othr aspects of safeway's sustainability drive include labeling products with “Responsible Choice” tags in-store so that customers can choose options that are better for the environment. And Safeway has written letters to support sustainable practices, for example, a recent letter to the Russian Pollock Catchers Association in support of their current improvement efforts.
Safeway also has reached out to suppliers to communicate its sustainability and traceability expectations and to verify that products can be traced back to the farm or boat from which they were harvested.

Safeway recognized partner FishWise for its support in the journey to become more sustainable in seafood sourcing.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

SEAFOODNEWS.COM — November 24, 2014 — Real problems in food safety led to a media frenzy covering the topic in the 1990's, and a corresponding erosion of consumer confidence.

Globally the retail food industry came together to create the Global Food Safety Initiative, and not only did they achieve mutual recognition and consensus over food safety protocols, they also reestablished consumer confidence in food safety systems.
 
As a result today, the media takes a far more balanced view of food safety, and when there is an individual outbreak, does not generalize it to the entire food system.
 
In our video today, the second in our series produced by Steve Minor on GSSI, – The Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative – we look at the parallels between the public concerns over food safety in the 1990's and today's concerns over seafood sustainability. 
Today, every seafood sustainability problem is generalized to the entire global system of fisheries, so the public has a false perception about an 'intractable' problem, and fails to see how much of the industry is truly meeting remarkable sustainability goals.
 
The 1990's were the years of mad cow disease, multiple E Coli outbreaks, and increasing media scrutiny and public concern over food safety. 
 
Today, despite major successes in seafood sustainability, including the US system of fisheries management, the Marine Stewardship Council's successes, and the universal support for the FAO principles of Responsible fishing and use of ecolabels in fisheries, there is still a media frenzy and widespread consumer confusion about sustainability.
 
Most Americans think the environmental and ecological condition of their fisheries is terrible.  Yet, in most cases, the opposite is true.
 
This is why the GSSI iniative is an important step to restore public confidence in seafood. In our video we make this case.

This story originially appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

 

WASHINGTON (Menhaden Fisheries Coalition) — November 17, 2014 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

New commendations and a report from the top U.S. agency overseeing commercial fisheries show the commercial menhaden industry to be operating sustainably and in support of some of the nation's biggest fishing ports. With the release of their annual Fisheries of the United States report last month, NOAA revealed that in 2013 five of the nation's top ten fishing ports are primarily supported by commercial menhaden fisheries. Friend of the Sea also recently recertified the Gulf menhaden fishery as sustainable, a title also currently held by the Atlantic menhaden fishery. Friend of the Sea is an international sustainability certification program dedicated to the conservation of marine resources.

Menhaden are a key source of omega-3 fatty acids, nutrients shown to be essential for regular and healthy body functions and growth in both humans and animals. Omega-3s also help reduce inflammation and lower the risk of serious, prevalent chronic diseases such as heart disease. The American diet typically does not include enough omega-3s, and humans and pets alike obtain omega-3s exclusively from dietary, not internal, sources. Foods enriched with menhaden oils containing omega-3s can fill that nutritional gap.

The two key types of omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are almost exclusively derived from marine sources. Of the top landed fish species in the United States, menhaden provided by far the most EPA and DHA. 2013 menhaden landings provided nearly 34 million pounds of EPA and DHA, more than twice as much as supplied by the second best source. Salmon harvests provided about 15.4 million pounds of the nutrients. According to a recent report by the USDA , fish oil from menhaden is also the top source of DPA, surpassing all other fish and meat. DPA is an intermediary of EPA and DHA, and several studies suggest that DPA contributes to cardiovascular, cognitive, and neurological health.

Infographic: Menhaden is the top source of omega-3s from US commercial fish landings

The recent achievements of both the Atlantic and Gulf menhaden fisheries reflect a strong commitment by this industry to serving local communities and consumers nationwide through sustainable operations, local investments, and high quality nutritive products.

About the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition

The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition is a collective of menhaden fishermen, related businesses, and supporting industries. Comprised of over 30 businesses along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the menhaden industry to ensure that members of the public, media, and government are informed of important issues, events, and facts about the fishery.

View a table of EPA and DHA omega-3 content of major U.S. domestic species groups