Whitefish wars: Pangasius, politics and consumer confusion in Europe

Abstract

Rapid growth in production of the farmed Vietnamese whitefish pangasius and its trade with the European Union has provoked criticism of the fish's environmental, social and safety credentials by actors including WWF and Members of the European Parliament and associated negative media coverage. This paper reviews the range of claims communicated about pangasius (identified as a form of mass mediated risk governance), in light of scientific evidence and analysis of data from the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feeds food safety notification system for imported seafood. This analysis shows pangasius is to be generally safe, environmentally benign, and beneficial for actors along the international value chains that characterise the trade. The case is made that increasingly politicised debates in Europe around risk and uncertainty are potentially counterproductive for EU seafood security and European aquaculture industry, and that the trade in pangasius can contribute to sustainable seafood consumption in a number of ways. Transparent evidence-based assessment and systems for communicating complex issues of risk for products such as pangasius are required in order to support continuance of fair and mutually beneficial trade. . This trade, originally based on wild fish but increasingly including those of farmed origin, has recently attracted considerable media attention, much of which has been negative. In particular, 2010 saw both continued increases in imports of a key farmed species, pangasius, to the EU of and a spike in critical media coverage of the trade.

Technical inefficiency of Vietnamese pangasius farming: A data envelopment analysis

“…According to Anh et al (2010), redundant feed contributes most to the generation of waste sludge in pangasius production. Moreover, the market for cheap white fish products, such as pangasius, is competitive because many possible substitutes are available (CBI, 2015;Little et al, 2012;Troell et al, 2014). Vietnamese pangasius products have gained a large market share in international markets because of their relatively low price (Bush & Belton, 2011).…”

Impact of Climate Change on the Technical Efficiency of Striped Catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, Farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…Its input and processing components employ over 180,000 persons directly, often women. Its development over the last two decades, as well as the associated controversies, such as environmental, social, and safety issues, have been well documented (e.g., Bosma et al ; Phan et al ; Bui et al ; De Silva et al ; Nguyen ; Bosma et al ; De Silva and Phuong ; Little et al ).…”

Perspectives on the Utilization of Aquaculture Coproduct in Europe and Asia: Prospects for Value Addition and Improved Resource Efficiency

“…However, if there is sufficient enforcement and regular audits by certification schemes, there is no reason why consumers cannot have absolute confidence in imported products, as well as those produced locally as there is clear provision of chain of custody from producer to retailer. Little et al (2012), showed that on the basis of RASFF notifications, the safety of farmed Asian seafood being imported into the EU was at least as good as that coming from capture fisheries, and communications with Asian aquafeed producers showed their awareness of the rules on intra-species feeding.…”