The oceans are one of our last remaining public resources, essentially off limits to private companies. But this is rapidly changing as corporations eye its contents: the fish that call these open waters home. With soaring world demand for fish, private companies want to increase the supply of cheap fish on the market to satiate consumers, under the guise of world hunger and overfishing, but the real motive is profit. In recent years, corporations have begun to encroach upon our oceans, vying to parcel off the waters into private chunks so they can create massive fish farms and develop private monopolies over the right to fish.

read our recent report
Import Alert reveals that the U.S. government fails to adequately inspect seafood imports for contaminants, filth, and salmonella, which could contribute to food-borne illnesses or other health problems among U.S. seafood consumers.

Food & Water Watch’s Fish Campaign is dedicated to fighting this corporate control. We like fish, too, but not the way it’s being served by these companies. Bottom line: Our oceans and fish are not for sale. We don’t want our shrimp or red snapper from privatized fish factories filled with chemicals and antibiotics. We don’t want our oceans polluted with the large-scale production of fish farms that put profit ahead of our health and the environment. We don’t want to see multinational corporations pushing out traditional fishing communities along our coasts, where for generations fishermen have gone out to sea.

Think about this: More often than not, when you buy fish at the grocery store or order it in a restaurant, you’re eating farmed fish. Or, as we like to call it, “pharmed” fish because it’s pumped full of drugs and chemicals. That next tuna steak you eat most likely is not caught by a weathered, bearded fisherman, but by a low-paid crew member on one ship out of a fleet of 50.

Like fish? Then, it’s time to learn more.

• Get started by reading our General Guidelines to Buying Fish.
• Read the interview with our featured Fish Fighter: Shawn Dochtermann.
  

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The Fish Dish - Check out the Summer 2007 edition.