October 27, 2006

EU approves new health rules for fish farming

EU agriculture ministers approved new rules Tuesday (Oct 24) to improve health and safety standards in the EU's fish farming business.

The new rules would set stronger health controls for farmed fish and other seafood and set standards for checking for illness among fish.

It also requires member nations to submit contingency plans to deal with disease outbreaks. The new rules would allocate funds for disease-fighting measures to help producers and national governments deal with the costs of culling stock.

One of the main complaints of environmental groups in the EU is that fish farms allow the spreading of more diseases into the wild due to the crammed conditions fishes live in.