The Mekong River

FishUpdate.com

THE Findus Group, which owns Young’s Seafood, has hit back at comments by Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson’s health concerns comments about Vietnamese Pangasius (also known as basa).

Mr Stevenson said in a keynote speech to a conference on aquaculture in the European Parliament recently that the Mekong where pangasius was farmed “as one of the most heavily polluted rivers on Earth, teeming with bacteria and industrial pollutants”. He also said that UK consumers were unwittingly buying pangasius farmed by “slave labour”.

However, Stephen Taylor, the seafood category director for the Findus Group, replied in a statement: “Naturally we share his concerns that the rapid growth of aquaculture in developing countries requires proper management. That’s why major brands such as ours - together with retailers throughout the UK, wider EU and Scandinavia - take great care in ensuring that their aquaculture products are sourced responsibly.”

He said pangasius imported by reputable suppliers is most definitely a safe, high quality product, produced in compliance with internationally recognised standards. “From our point of view (and in line with our overall Fish for Life objectives) we have spent considerable time and effort to develop and implement rigorous Codes of Practice for Pangasius. Our Vietnamese supplier holds BRC, IFS and GlobalGap, ISO9001:2000 and ISO14001:2004 certification - plus has been an active participant in the WWF dialogue programme thus indicating total commitment to GMP, GAP and responsible environmental management. Indeed this supplier is in line to become one of the first to achieve ASC certification for pangasius”.

Mr Taylor added: “In terms of social accountability, we are also rigorous about standards and work closely with our suppliers to ensure good working conditions and labour practices. Nevertheless, we don’t take any of this for granted and recognise that we must do all we can to encourage best practice across the wider industry, not just our suppliers. The Mekong Delta is not the environmental disaster Mr. Stevenson implies although it does of course require sustainable management. We can be confident that Pangasius produced in the Mekong is a safe, high quality product which is ideal for the needs of the European market.

“We strongly support the further development of an EU aquaculture industry and indeed, we are one of the world’s largest buyers of Scottish farmed salmon. However, we would also expect European policy-makers to recognise the global nature of seafood supply and encourage the competitiveness of the EU aquaculture sector by focusing on consumer needs and market requirements for quality and price.”

Source

Visit FishUpdate

Related posts:

1. The Death of Fish Sticks: Will Success Kill the Pangasius?
2. Vitarich moves to promote Pangasius production in RP
3. Eco-systems the key to sustainable catfish farming
4. Invasion of the Viet ‘cod’ as exotic fish takes over
5. Mekong Delta sees expansion of tra fish exports