Groups Clash Over Organic Standards for Fish, Milk

(MoneyWatch)  A USDA panel has approved the first ever standards for organic fish, but environmentalists and consumer activists are not happy with the results.

The problem with fish is that many of them, such as salmon, eat other fish. Even if they're organically raised in every other way but eat wild fish, there's no guarantee that the fish they eat are free of mercury and PCBs.

The new regulations would allow fish to be certified organic even if 25 percent of their feed came from wild, not-necessarily-organic fish. Groups like Consumers Union say fish should be held to the same standard as other organic meat, which must have 100 percent organic feed to qualify. On the other side, the president of Martin International, which makes Black Pearl seafood, said that even the 25 percent limit would make it impossible to raise salmon.

Also at issue is the use of open net cages, "which flush pollution, disease and parasites from open net fish farms directly into the ocean," according to Consumers Union. These cages would be allowed under the plan approved by the USDA's National Organic Standards Board.

Meanwhile, USDA draft rules on organic milk are under attack by some producers as being too stringent. Under current regulations, milk from organically-fed cows can be certified organic even if the cows are kept in huge feedlots. The new rules -- open for public commentary until Dec. 23 -- would require organic cows be allowed to graze outside for at least 120 days out of the year.

The proposed changes came after watchdog groups Cornucopia and the Organic Consumers Association called attention to the practices of Horizon and Aurora Organic Dairy, which get some of their organic milk from feedlot cattle. An Aurora spokeswoman said the new rules don't take into account factors like bad weather, which could make it difficult to keep cows outside for so many days.