News Coverage
Two B.C. fish farms named in anti-toxin lawsuit: U.S. environmental group says they failed to warn of PCBs in fish
Published January 23, 2004
At least two B.C. salmon farms are facing legal action in California for failing to warn consumers the fish contain what environmental groups claim are potentially dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs.
Marine Harvest and the Stolt Sea Farm group are named as defendants along with 48 other U.S. and Canadian salmon farms, fish processors and grocery chains in a notice of intent to sue filed last week by the Environmental Working Group and the Center for Environmental Health.
The environmental groups are planning to sue the fish producers, processors and vendors under a California anti-toxics law.
"We believe it's the responsibility of these companies to ensure that the fish they sell is not contaminated with toxic chemicals," said Michael Green, executive director for the Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health.
"Our goal is to challenge them to change their practices so their fish is safe to eat."
The legal action comes after a major study, published earlier this month in the journal Science, found farm-raised salmon contain significantly more contaminants than salmon caught in the wild. The study blamed the high concentration of PCBs -- polychlorinated biphenyls -- on feed used on fish farms. It recommended farmers change fish feed and urged consumers to buy wild salmon.
The farmed salmon industry disputes the study's conclusions, citing experts who say the benefits outweigh the risks of eating farmed salmon.
" [Consumers] will be doing themselves and their families a great disservice if they stop eating farmed salmon," said Alex Trent, executive director of the trade group Salmon of the Americas.
He noted farmed salmon, a source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, is much cheaper than wild salmon and can be purchased year-round.
"[The environmental groups] are not just hurting the industry," Trent said."They're hurting American consumers. They're literally scaring people to death." Under California's Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, companies are required to notify consumers if their products contain hazardous levels of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.
The law requires private groups to first file notice of their intent to sue to give the state attorney-general and other prosecutors 60 days to decide whether to join or take over the lawsuit.
The two groups want salmon farmers to stop feeding practices that lead to high concentrations of PCBs -- chemicals known to cause cancer, reproductive harm and nervous-system damage.
"We want the farmed salmon industry to reform its practices and switch to non-toxic feed stocks, which would not contaminate farmed salmon," said Bill Walker, vice-president of the Environmental Working Group.
"If they don't want to change their practices, we think consumers should be informed" through warning labels.
No one from the B.C. Salmon Farmers' Association could be reached for comment Thursday evening. The farmed salmon industry is constantly reforming its feed practices and has reduced PCB levels by 28 per cent in the last two years, said Salmon of the Americas' Trent.
Aside from Marine Harvest and Stolt Sea Farm, other defendants named in the legal action include major U.S. grocery chains such as Safeway Inc., Kroger Co., Albertson's Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. and other farmed salmon producers in Canada and Europe. B.C.'s Marine Harvest claims to be the largest aquaculture company and largest producer and supplier of farmed salmon in the world. Stolt Sea Farm says on its Web site that it is B.C.'s largest salmon farmer.
Costco, of Issaqua, Wash., a major seller of farmed salmon, started a PCB monitoring program three years ago to ensure the safety of its fish, said Craig Wilson, the company's assistant vice president for food safety. The company's own data conflicted with results from the Science study, showing Costco farmed salmon contained PCB levels far below limits set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Wilson said.
He said the company cuts its salmon fillets to remove skin, liver and fatty tissues where PCBs accumulate.