Should I be using an animals life as a fertilizer, and if so, is it possible in a sustainable manner? There it is, the loaded question, no real delicate way to put it. I have been listening to Michael (Phillips) waxing poetic about the amazing properties of liquid fish fertilizer for years and get very enthusiastic when I hear it. I have looked into it, thought about it, and it does seem like something that could be a good fit with the way we manage our orchard. However, I get home and start talking and thinking about it with my wife and it always comes back to a couple of things. The questions we have regarding it are; 1.What are the fish that are being used, and what is the condition of the fishery that they come from? I know that some of the popular brands are from here in Massachusetts where the fisheries are in notoriously bad shape at most levels. The information on the web that I have been able to find regarding this seems to step around the issue. 2.Should we be killing fish to spray as fertilizer in our orchards? This is a very complicated question with the potential for nuance coming out of it at every angle. I understand one argument here would be that instead of eating the fish we are feeding the trees with them, and then eating the apples. We don't eat any ocean fish because of the sustainability issues surrounding them, and I'm not sure what vegetarians/vegans would think of my meat fed apples. Our current position on liquid fish is that we are comfortable on the fence. We understand (mostly) the benefits of what it has to offer our orchard, but have not been able to hop over to the other side.

Interesting, compassionate and thoughtful points you bring up. I have not looked into this but I wonder if the fish emulsion is made from by- products at fisheries/canneries that would otherwise go into some landfill? Then what about getting fish parts from the local fishmonger and dare I say "make our own" (yet another thing to do on a busy farm).

I would think that the product would be made of by-products that would most likely be wasted if not used in this product. As another thought, animal by-products i.e., manure, blood and bone etc. could also come from animals kept in less than satisfactory conditions, high antibiotic +++ residues. The only way to be sure would be to visit the places personally or make your own products. That all sounds a bit negative but I guess my answer is to support, where possible, those that are operating in an ethical and sustainable way or to make my own products or use management techniques that I am comfortable with.

Good discussion. Let’s embrace all our ambiguities, I say. First some answers to what’s been brought out so far. Let’s be real clear: Fish emulsion is from “leftover parts” of the fish industry… but more important is to understand that it’s useless biologically because emulsion is heat-treated and therefore dead as regards fatty acid chains and bioactivity. The fishery source is indeed relevant: Organic Gem is made from oil-rich dogfish from deep cold water in the Atlantic, a species currently considered to not be “overfished” for whatever that’s worth. Schaffer’s Fresh Water Liquid Fish is made from the invasive Asian carp currently in the news for potentially being about to invade the Great Lakes. I could get precise info on other unpasteurized brands if this makes a difference but Steve’s point is far more acute. Life is taken. I hear that and appreciate that view point… all the more so as someone who was a vegetarian for a good twenty years because I felt it hypocritical to eat life but not be involved with the taking of life. My outlook and actions have changed (long story) but not my sensitivity to this line of thought. We should probably ponder the loss of codling moth life (or what have you) as well in the pursuit of a decent fruit crop. The real argument for fish, for me, lies in another choice: Is it better to approach tree fruit disease with mineral fungicides mined in some less than earth-friendly way (most sulfur comes from smokestacks, one of the chief culprits behind climate change) or can we build orchard health through nutrient-dense nutrition in order to circumvent allopathic thinking? My value system says its okay to go with the biology. I have also heard a similar argument not to use neem oil because it comes from across the globe… but then I think how I’m supporting “good global trade” by valuing the work of village co-operatives in India that gather the neem seed and press the oil. Both neem and fish are what enable "my holistic approach” to build fungal health and thus circumvent disease by stimulating tree immune response… blah blah… but you can hear that part of my rap elsewhere. I get it that some growers won’t use fish. That’s fine. But all of us kill to grow our fruit, even if vicariously. Encouraging Queen’s Anne Lace in the orchard ecosystem so more parasitic wasps are on hand to kill codling moth larvae is a conscious act. Using Bt, granlulosis virus, and pheromone sticky traps are more steps on the same road. Suggesting a new divide along the lines of the "vegetarian/vegan apple" is disingenuous. Blunt talk for holistic growers tonight, methinks.

Well said Michael. It is often a sensitive subject but important to keep the bigger picture in perspective.