Sometimes I’ll look at a news story about seafood that contains a mistake and say, “Hmmm, how’d that get in there?” Usually there’s an explanation; a statistical error, a poorly chosen source, a misunderstanding—corrections are made and we move on. But in reading a recent story about seafood on NaturalNews.com I was blown away by the fact that before the reporter even put pen to paper he could have easily determined that the entire premise for his story was wrong.
The story argues that consumers can’t find safe, sustainable wild or farmed shrimp based on the “fact” that “no certification process exists to ensure the sustainability of farmed shrimp.” This is the foundation for the story yet it is quite simply false. There are no disagreements about the merits of the reporting or the slant taken by the author— it’s just plain wrong. Causing me to say “Hmmm, how’d that get in there?” And to write the letter you see below:
September 9, 2010
Mike Adams
Editor
NaturalNews.com
VIA Email
Dear Mr. Adams,
I am writing you about serious concerns we have in relation to a story published on your site by Mr. David Gutierrez.
The story titled “Horrifying environmental impact of non-Gulf shrimp” was published on Monday September 6th and is based almost completely and solely on an article from another publication that ran under the title “Shrimp's Dirty Secrets: Why America's Favorite Seafood Is a Health and Environmental Nightmare,” published in January.
It appears that your reporter did no original reporting of his own and merely lifted the premise and “facts” directly from the other article. The problem is the “facts” are wrong and he did not research them in crafting his own version of the earlier, already erroneous, reporting but merely repeated them.
Case in point: the foundation for the argument that consumers can’t find safe, sustainable wild or farmed shrimp is based on the “fact” that “guidelines for finding some kind of 'sustainable shrimp' are so far nonexistent" and that “no certification process exists to ensure the sustainability of farmed shrimp.” This is absolutely and demonstrably false.
Each year more than 60-million pounds of shrimp from 15 different countries is certified processed to Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards, as set by the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA.) All toll GAA’s BAP certification applies to more than 1.3 billion pounds of shrimp, tilapia and catfish. To report or even suggest that no certification process exists is patently wrong. What’s more, writing that guidelines are nonexistent flies in the face of readily available Aquaculture Facility Certification guidelines.
To suggest it is “near impossible” for consumers to find sustainable shrimp is reckless and ignores the fact that the world’s largest retailer, Wal Mart and the largest traditional grocery retailer in the U.S., Kroger Co., both source their shrimp from GAA certified facilities.
We ask that you remove this article from your site immediately.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Gavin Gibbons
National Fisheries Institute
