WWF apology over catfish 'slur' ones of Vietnam demands: The WWF cited food safety and environmental reasons behind its criticism.
Pangasius is now widely used by many leading UK seafood companies in its fish products. In fact at 726,000 metric tons last year it is the second largest variety of white fish imported into the European Union after cod which totalled 799,000 metric tons. It is also widely imported into the United States where there are similar food safety claims along with growing hostility from US catfish breeders.
An angry Nguyen Huu Dung, vice-president of the country's association of seafood exporters, said WWF’s assessment had been conducted “improperly” and “lacked scientific basis”. There have been calls from several Vietnamese and fishing industry sources for the WWF to withdraw its claims and to apologise for what they consider a slur.
Mr Nguyen Huu Dung has also asked the environment organisation to promptly publish its standards and criteria for the management of tra fish production in Vietnam and correct its mistake of advising European consumers to look for alternative seafood.
The WWF has transferred the catfish from its 'yellow' to the 'red' list in its updated 2010-11 Seafood Guides for a number of Western European countries. This means it recommends that buyers not buy red-listed fish but instead choose a secondary species from its 'green' list.
The International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability Fisheries Society said the WWF assessment of tra fish farming as "to be avoided" came as a surprise to its members.
However, Mark Powell of the WWF said its findings were scientifically based, adding that all it wished to do was to encourage Vietnam to develop its aquaculture industry in a more sustainable fashion.
0 comments:
Post a Comment