September 26, 2019
Media Contact:
Margie Newman
Intesa Communications Group
margie@intesacom.com
Press Statement from J. Douglas Hines
SAN DIEGO – J. Douglas Hines, Chairman and General Partner of Atlantic Natural Foods, LLC., the leading shelf stable producer of plant-based protein alternatives, released yesterday the following statement in response to the Intrafish editorial, “Imitation seafood causes a bigger threat than you think.”
“As a leader in the in the global seafood industry for more than 40 years, I have witnessed more than most in today’s seafood world. Over the decades, our oceans have been abused by rampant IUU fishing, social responsibilities ignored, vessels appearing to misreport catches, trash piles on the high seas that vessels have to steam around, occasional corruption, quality degradation with triopoly phosphates in shrimp, ‘smoked’ tuna by adding sodium nitrates, glazing, and in some products more additives than you can add up.”
“The author is correct, there is no ‘fake fish’—imitation shrimp, salmon, or tuna— as there is with crab. There also is no fake chicken, beef, or pork. There is a legal species designation for each of these proteins that should be adhered to under federal regulations. However, there is a plant-based protein alternative creation that has like-food application in preparation and delivery. Just as when NFI was fighting to have a new designation for fish that was labelled crab but had the same application. What do we call land-based, GMO salmon or other lab grown fish from cells?”
“If the writer is not aware of global population growth growing from 7.1B today to 9.0B+ by 2050, changing climate effect with Global Warming” and overfishing throughout most of the world’s Oceans, etc., then he may not realize the world requires alternatives to meet the protein demand for future generations. Whether we are fighting to keep things as they are or as they were, I would suggest that a worse fate that awaits us is to wake up one day and find that due to our mismanagement of our resources there is little left to eat on our planet.”
“I am pragmatic and care about our future and believe the seafood industry needs to create alternative delivery and style to have a future by creating products that meets a generational need, and stop placing blame on others for the misdeeds created by years of abuse by us all.”
“The real threat is not alternative food creation, it is our inability to manage and protect our ocean’s resources. We must eliminate IUU’s illegal harvest, address climate impacts in harvest cycles, stop the use of child labor in the supply chain, and no longer treat the seas as a garbage dump.”
“Rather than sit by and offer desperate commentary, my colleagues and I are working to make a difference by creating new and healthy protein sources. By doing this, hopefully my grandkids will be able to enjoy seafood in their diet while protecting the livelihood of 60MM engaged in fishing and 3 Billion who rely on seafood as their primary food source.”
