Sometimes Ill look at a news story about seafood that contains a mistake and say, Hmmm, howd that get in there? Usually theres an explanation; a statistical error, a poorly chosen source, a misunderstandingcorrections 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 cant 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 its just plain wrong. Causing me to say Hmmm, howd 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 6^th 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 cant 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 GAAs 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. Whats 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 worlds 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