Marine Neutraceuticals: Ocean Pressure
- wallacejnichols
- Nov. 1, 2005
By Casey Adams, IHD
Nutraceutical companies that continue to tap the ocean for nutrition should not only be concerned with profitability and market size, but also sustainability and stewardship. Over the past couple of years, two important studies have been released that address the latter issue. The "Pew Oceans Commission Final Report" and Congress' "Oceans Commissions Report" both sent urgent messages to the marine harvesting and coastal development industries, the essence of which can besummed up by Dr. Wallace Nichols, who is a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences: "Too much is being dumped into the oceans, too much is being taken out andcoastline habitats are quickly being destroyed."
Other issues upsetting the delicate balance in the world's oceans, according to Jeanette Lam, communications officer of Canada's Fisheries and Oceans, are rising water temperatures, illegal and over-fishing, bycatch, pollution and food chain imbalances.
These combined factors could be problematic to an environmentally-conscious nutraceutical industry seeking to sustain supply, keep costs down and sell healthy products. As such, many challenges lie ahead as the industry learns to adapt to increasingly environmentally-focused consumers.
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