July, 09 2009, 02:13pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Marianne Cufone, (813) 785-8386
mcufone@fwwatch.org
Erica Schuetz, (202) 683-4903
eschuetz@fwwatch.org
Food & Water Watch Exposes Kona Blue's Claims of Sustainability
WASHINGTON
Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group, today
released a paper that rebutts the recent claims by Kona Blue Water
Farms that the fish it raises are more sustainable than wild fish. The
consumer group's paper enumerates the problems with the Hawaii-based
aquaculture operation's methods and debunks the claims that its Kona
Kampachi fish are sixty times as "efficient" as wild fish.
Kona
Blue is the producer of Kona Kampachi, a variety of Pacific yellowtail.
The company has promoted its fish as sustainable and marketed it to
exclusive restaurants across the United States. However, Food &
Water Watch findings indicate that the company has been greenwashing
its product. The fish farm is actually located in a sensitive
ecological zone and feeds their fish a diet including chicken
by-products, among other concerns. These findings come on the heels of
public opposition to the farm by native Hawaiian groups for
environmental reasons and for failing to consider native Hawaiian
traditions and culture.
Key findings:
- Kona's document relies on unpublished data for its calculations.
- Kona's document does not fully disclose information about what its fish are fed.
- The document's methods are unclear, leaving doubt about calculations and the interpretation of data.
To read the full rebuttal, please visit https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/releases/Kona.pdf.
For more information or to speak with one of our experts on aquaculture
issues, please contact Marianne Cufone or Erica Schuetz at (202)
683-2500.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
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