Words such as hybrid, farmed raised fish, fish farm, aquaculture, hormone, antibiotics, and breeding tanks can make customers wary about eating the hybrid striped bass. Is the fish still safe when raised on a fish farm, living in crowded environments, getting injected with antibiotics, dealing with chemicals, or genetically modified?
Genetic Modification
Customers may worry about the safety of hybrid striped bass as genetically modified food. However, within the scientific community the debate over the safety of GM foods is over. The overwhelming conclusion is, in the words of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, that
“consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.”
Major scientific and governmental organizations agree. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences also found no adverse health effects due to genetic engineering in the human population. The World Health Organization has concluded that GM foods “are not likely, nor have been shown, to present risks for human health.”
Antibiotics
Antibiotics are commonly linked to hybrid striped bass, usually negatively. In the United States, however, antibiotics are heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Medicated feed is used to help with bacterial diseases and outbreaks. Antibiotics are added to the feed. They do not prevent parasites, fungi, or viruses. These medicated feeds use FDA approved drugs. These compounds undergo rigorous animal, human-food, and environmental testing. The medicated feed is determined by the bacterial infection. Prophylactic use of antibiotics is illegal in fish farming. Only four antibiotics are FDA approved for use in food fish: Terramycin, Romet, Florfenicol (Aquaflor) and Sulfamerazine (not available anymore) are commercially available. Florfenicol is used for the treatment of Strepococcus and columnaris infections in warm water fish.
Generally, the best prevention of a bacterial outbreak is to keep the handling of the hybrid striped bass as stress-free as possible. Correcting stressful situations will help to prevent bacterial infections as opposed to only using medicated feed, which will only treat diseases as they occur, not prevent them from occurring again. Aquaculturists should review their processes and environmental factors that could contribute to disease outbreak and correct them.
Treatment of the Fish
The treatment and well being of the hybrid striped bass is paramount in making sure the product is healthy and ready for consumption. Generally, hybrid striped bass are resistant to disease. The stress from being handled is what causes their immune systems to become compromised.
Wild striped bass, on the other hand, are not as safe as they may seem. Mercury is a common constituent in sea water. The longer the fish live and the bigger the fish grow, the higher mercury level they accumulate. Mercury can have detrimental health effects on humans. A predator fish like striped bass that is higher on the food chain may contain more mercury.