Do seafood executives and the companies that they lead give a crap about the oceans, the environment, their products, their customers?

If you were to believe the critics, the answer is no. They assert companies providing wild-harvested or farmed seafood pillage the sea, pollute the environment, and countless other injustices.

Though that's not new, it's frustrating for the sector to be faced with the same arguments over and over, with very little headway at changing the perspective of opponents, even when science is on its side.

Most recently, clothing make Patagonia recently reignited its fight against salmon farming with its “Take Back Puget Sound” campaign, a one-hour-long, one-sided rant about salmon farming in waters off Washington state, where Cooke Aquaculture operates. It’s full of tired, ill-informed arguments designed to raise their profile as activist clothiers.

I don’t want to talk about the critics and their story, though. I want to talk about how the people who make up the seafood industry truly feel about the work they do.

One example: Jan Tharp, CEO of shelf-stable seafood giant Bumble Bee recently shared her philosophy on the role of seafood and her company in the world in an interview in Packaging World magazine.

Tharp said the industry needs to "change the narrative" and "talk about what we're really doing here."

“We’re feeding people’s lives through the power of the ocean," she said. "And we are touching people’s lives. We are influencing them, and we are making them better. We’re fighting for the health of the oceans. We’re elevating lives of people that help us on this journey. And, we’re trying to create products that resonate with consumers. That journey of feeding people’s lives through the power of the ocean is so much more impactful and so much more heartfelt."

We’re feeding people’s lives through the power of the ocean

Seems like a pretty holistic philosophy of a company’s relationship with the environment, its employees and its business goals and mission.

Though maybe not everyone can say it quite as elegantly as Tharp, the sentiment could have come from countless seafood executives, all who share in the thought they are doing good for the planet, the world's food supply and the health of consumers everywhere.

Although unfounded attacks on the industry's character are less frequent than they were a decade ago, they still poison the debate around sustainability and proper corporate citizenship, rather than seek reasonable solutions to challenges.

I’ve spent time with enough seafood professionals to know this: The overwhelming majority care deeply about the oceans that sustain life on this planet. They care about how their operations affect the environment today and in the years to come. They deeply care about serving healthy protein to consumers around the world. And yes, they care about making money. But that money in turn helps them provide jobs in communities near and far.

So yes, this industry does give a crap about the oceans, the environment, its employees and its customers.

And as tiring as it may be -- it will need to keep saying it, over and over, until the critics finally run out of things to say.

Any comments, complaints, retaliatory rants, please feel free to email me at: john.fiorillo@intrafish.com

Opinion

Does this industry care about anything?