Importance of Offshore Aquaculture Development in the United States
By Shawn Oliver, Seafood Category Buyer, Giant Eagle
As the category buyer for one of the country’s leading food, fuel and pharmacy retailers, I am tasked with the responsibility of making the best business decisions for our guests, my company and our environment.
My number one priority in procurement must always be providing the highest quality sustainable seafood that our guests expect from us. Giant Eagle has been supporting U.S. raised aquaculture for years, and our guests demand more. Recently we have been fortunate to acquire Atlantic Sapphire’s Blue House Salmon (land-based in Florida) as a key addition to our assortment. Our guests increasingly ask for seafood products locally sourced in the United States. Social responsibility, traceability, product quality, support of hard-working Americans and our economy are just a few reasons our guests look for seafood sourced locally.
Giant Eagle takes pride in social responsibility. Within our industry, one of our concerns is the equitable treatment of labor. Raising seafood off our domestic shores would support streamlined production and processing for companies, create American jobs, generate tax revenue, and ensure proper treatment of workers. By doing so, we provide a finished product that we can be proud to offer to our customer base. “The early fish gets the worm,” and Giant Eagle is proud to find meaningful ways to positively support people and move our industry's social responsibility forward. Our strong partnership with BAP ensures supply chain transparency to our customers and aids us in fulfilling our social responsibility standards.
Over the past few decades, aquaculture has made leaps and bounds in improving environmental responsibility. Giant Eagle stands firm to reward these efforts and provide our guests with products that reduce their environmental footprint. Technology has improved to the point that we can prevent native species genetic contamination by escaped aquaculture product. At one time, FIFO (fish in fish out) at 1.25:1 was acceptable for salmon. We now partner with companies achieving a sub .9:1 FIFO ratio. By controlling feed, the aquaculture industry can produce a finished product containing lower contaminants than wild caught seafood and have a less negative environmental impact than commercial fishing. Tax revenue from industry growth would give our government the opportunity to further positively impact our aquatic natural resources.
With increasing demand worldwide for seafood, aquaculture is the only feasible solution, and it is important that the United States of America gets on board. We must find a way to start providing these products for our markets. Our consumer base craves and demands these products. I challenge anyone to stand behind a seafood counter for an eight-hour shift without hearing, “Do you carry (insert species here) sourced from the United States?” As a government, we are leaving a lot of money on the table. In conclusion: As a retailer responsible for sourcing the highest quality proteins for our customers, I look forward to seeing the opportunity of offshore aquaculture exploration domestically in the United States. By being part of this incredible company, I look forward to help pave the road for responsibly sourced American aquaculture.