Organic fish and seafood will help sustain and restore wild fisheries and aquatic habitat through high standards and market incentive. With the recognition that many of the world's ocean resources are in jeopardy, establishing organic standards that require strict management for a sustainable resource, like those in place in Alaska, will promote the restoration of the world's ocean resources.

Alaska's Department of Fish and Game recently received the Marine Stewardship Council's certification as a sustainable management system.Alaska is also the only state in the nation with a Constitution calling for the conservation and sustainability of natural resources.

The U.S. Organic Foods Production Act was intended to cover all types of foods consumed in the United States, which would include aquatic products. Section 2103(11) of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 includes wild fish in the definition of livestock to which OFPA regulation will apply. It states: "The term "livestock" means any cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, wild or domesticated game, or other non-plant life."

Ecosystem-based management is prescribed for organic aquatic species. Fishing methods that protect marine habitats, especially in spawning and nursery areas, should be defined and documented as part of the Organic System Plan. The recovery and rebuilding of already depleted marine life populations, where possible, should be required within specified time frames.

In 1999, the commercial landing value of seafood in the United States was over $3.4 billion and occurred in over 30 states. Aquaculture's ex-farm value reached $750 million in 1999 and occurred in every state. These are both valuable sectors that deserve consideration under the OFPA. Fishermen, processors, and aquaculture farmers deserve a level-playing field with other protein sources when wanting to access the organic food market.

Marketing as "wild" or "sustainable" is not a substitute for marketing "organic." The organic label has a wide, established consumer base.

The Organic Food Production Act does not stipulate that organic food must come from a controlled, closed system of production. Even on land there is no absolute control, but rather a return to reliance on more natural systems. In certifying the system producing organic fish, water flowing through an ocean harvest site would under OFPA be treated the same as air or rainwater flowing through a land harvest site.

Ocean seafood consistent with the Organic Food Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 states that organic food is food using sustainable production methods that relies primarily on natural materials. Organic food is produced using no synthetic material other than a small list of less than 10 exceptions described in legislation. Production of ocean seafood can and does meet this definition. Given the health benefits associated with eating seafood, it's in the best interest of American consumers that national programs encourage consumption of seafood.