Why do fish farm operators want to have their fish labeled organic?

W: Professor Williams, we now have many kinds of food that are called organic. For example, we have organic dairy products, organic meat and chicken. Do we have organic fish now?
M: Well, the answer to your question is yes, and no. In the United States, the term "organic" has a legal meaning set by the Department of Agriculture. The department has an official label to mark products that have met the requirements of its National Organic Program. Organic products usually cost more, but their sales are growing. As a result, there is competition to label more products organic because many people believe they are healthier. Now Agriculture Department officials are trying to decide whether fish can be called organic.
W: Yes, as you said, many agricultural produces are labeled organic, but in the U.S., there is no such thing called organic fish yet.
M: Many operators of fish farms believe they could sell more fish if they could label them organic. The industry that sells wild-caught fish is already under pressure from farm-raised seafood. That pressure could increase if the Agriculture Department approves proposed requirements for labeling fish organic.
W: I am sure there are criteria for the fish to meet if they can be called organic.
M: Yes, Earning the organic label requires controlled conditions. The question is whether fish that swim wild and free—like Alaskan salmon—could meet the proposed requirements. Yet fish farms might not all be able to meet them either. Some operations are criticized for their treatment of fish and the risk of pollution to waterways. Fish farmers and the wild-caught industry also argue about the possible presence of harmful chemicals in each other’s products.
    A few years ago, an advisory committee considered requests by fish farmers to call their products organic. The experts said farm-raised fish should be labeled organic only if they were fed almost completely organic plant food. Farmed fish often have little or no fish in their diet. But those proposed guidelines were not used.
W: When do you think American people can have organic fish on their table?
M: More recently, the Agriculture Department formed another group to examine possible requirements. This time, the committee suggested several kinds of food that farmed fish could eat and still be called organic. But I think a decision about whether fish can be sold with the organic label may still take two years or more.