11 March 2008

Tuna Troubles

Posted by edgar3 ( )
Published on March 11th, 2008 @ 05:40:22 pm, using 495 words, 436 views

Categories: News

1/27/08
Tuna Troubles
Center for Consumer Science says NY Times sushi article full of errors
SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX]
January 23, 2008 - NEW YORK, Today in a New York Times story claiming sushi-grade tuna is ‘tainted’ with ‘high mercury levels,’ health reporter Marian Burros omitted critical information about government standards for mercury levels in fish and seriously misinterpreted their meaning. These errors are significant enough, according to the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, to warrant a complete retraction.

‘The Times has published a completely irresponsible piece of ’science’ journalism,’ said Center for Consumer Freedom Research Director David Martosko. ‘The mistakes are too serious to paper over with a series of quiet corrections. The Times should do the responsible thing and retract the whole article.’

The Times neglected to inform readers that the Food and Drug Administration’s methylmercury ‘Action Level’ (1.0 part per million) includes a generous ten-fold safety cushion. FDA has written that the Action Level ‘was established to limit consumers’ methylmercury exposure to levels 10 times lower than the lowest levels associated with adverse effects.’

In reality, the highest-mercury sample reported by the Times (1.4 ppm) contains less than one-seventh the amount of mercury that might be a cause for health concern.

The Times mistakenly claimed that consumers eating a fixed number of pieces of sushi tuna will ‘reach what the Environmental Protection Agency calls its weekly reference dose.’ In fact, EPA writes that ‘reference doses’ are meant to identify levels that are ‘likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime.’

By definition, it’s not possible for anyone to exceed a reference dose with a single week’s worth of exposure.

The Times also omitted information about safety margins built into theEPA’s mercury reference dose. Like the FDA’s Action Level, thatreference dose incorporates a ten-fold safety factor. In the example ofthe highest-mercury sample identified by the Times, a consumer wouldactually have to eat 26 pieces per week
– over an entire lifetime –before accumulating the lowest level of mercury in his or her bodyassociated with adverse health effects in scientific studies.

The Times wr ote that ‘mercury enters the environment as an industrialpollutant.’ In fact, virtually all the mercury in tuna (an ocean fish)enters the environment naturally through undersea volcanic activity.

The Times wrote that ‘methylmercury [is] the form of mercury found infish tied to health problems.’ In reality, the medical literaturecontains no documented cases of mercury toxicity from eating fish inthe United States; the only cases recorded anywhere occurred more than40 years ago in Japan as the result of an industrial spill.

‘Yellow(fin) journalism like this does a great disservice to ordinary consumers,’ added Martosko. ‘Study after study shows that the documented health benefits of eating fish far outweigh any hypothetical risks. I know the Times is losing money and cutting costs, but maybe they shouldn’t have cut back on their scientific research budget.’

Copyright © 2008 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved

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Division of Fish and Wildlife Rules: Horseshoe Crabs

Posted by edgar3 ( )
Published on March 11th, 2008 @ 05:38:19 pm, using 193 words, 726 views

Categories: Announcements [A]

NEW JERSEY REGISTER
VOLUME 40, NUMBER 4
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2008
PUBLIC NOTICE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
OFFICE OF LEGAL AFFAIRS
NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
Division of Fish and Wildlife Rules
Horseshoe Crabs
N.J.A.C. 7:25-18.16
Petitioner: Michael Litchko

Take notice that on January 17, 2008, the Department of EnvironmentalProtection (Department) received a petition for rulemaking pursuant toN.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(f) and N.J.A.C. 7:1D-1.1 from Michael Litchko(petitioner). The petitioner requests that the Department amend its Fish andWildlife Rules to make changes related to the taking of horseshoe crabs asdescribed below.

The petitioner asserts that, under the present regulations, the Division ofFish and Wildlife is out of compliance with the Atlantic States MarineFisheries Commission’s Horseshoe Crab Management Board’s recommendations, whichthe petitioner indicates call for harvest of 100,000 male horseshoe crabs for2008. Therefore, petitioner, as a New Jersey licensed horseshoe crab harvester,requests that the Department propose and adopt amendments that would allow amale only harvest of 100,000 horseshoe crabs for 2008. In accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:1D-1.1, the Department will subsequently mailto the petitioner and file with the Office of Administrative Law a notice ofaction on the petition.

40 N.J.R. 893(a)

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06 March 2008

Commercial fishing industry supports Congressional efforts to remove unnecessary rigidity from fisheries management

Posted by edgar3 ( )
Published on March 6th, 2008 @ 09:28:27 am, using 241 words, 459 views

Categories: Announcements [A]

The Garden State Seafood Association, representing New Jersey~s ocean-oriented commercial fishing industry, enthusiastically endorses the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 (HR 5425), introduced by New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone and extending the provisions of earlier legislation sponsored by North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones and Massachusetts Congressman Barney Franks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed. The legislation contains amendments to avoid unnecessarily harsh management measures being imposed in fisheries in which the stocks are increasing but the rebuilding rates are beyond the influence of the recreational or commercial harvest levels.
The Bill includes safeguards that will provide the affected fish stocks with more than adequate protection from overharvesting. However, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2008 will allow fisheries managers to also protect fishermen and fishing communities when arbitrary and inflexible regulations would otherwise punish fishermen ~ and the communities that depend on them ~ for environmental or anthropogenic factors beyond their control that affect those stocks.
Having already attracted a core of Coastal Members, Congressman Pallone~s legislation would adjust provisions of the Magnuson Act, the legislation that defines how U.S. fisheries will be managed.
Congressman Pallone and his co-sponsors have earned the respect of commercial and recreational fishermen on both coasts for recognizing that they are as important as the fish that they harvest.

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