Please read: Important Notice and Disclaimer
Bad press and various campaigns are discouraging consumers from eating farmed salmon.
The "punching bag" is farmed salmon but more broadly, a negative view has been systematically created about fish farming and farmed fish in general. For example, environmental organizations provide seafood guides that unanimously red-list farmed salmon while green-listing "wild" salmon or Alaskan salmon. The world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium sells cards that says "Farmed Fish Aren't The Answer." The aquarium has a prominent wall display that disparages the cultivation of both finfish and shellfish in one fell swoop. It says, "Farming seafood isn't the answer to saving ocean wildlife." More than 46 million people have visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The fact is, fish is an important food. Fish is a particularly excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients prevent cardiovascular disease which affects millions of people - 80 million in the U.S. alone. Harvard scientists estimate that eating fish on a weekly basis can reduce the risk of a fatal heart attack by 36 per cent. The American Heart Association says that cardiovascular disease kills about 2,300 Americans every day and will cost the United States about $US 503 BILLION dollars in 2010.
According to the U.S. Institute of Medicine, farmed Atlantic salmon is higher in omega-3 fatty acids than any other fish and is very low in contaminants, especially mercury (1). In stark contrast, leading environmental organizations such as the David Suzuki Foundation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Environmental Defense inaccurately claim that farmed salmon is "high" in PCBs and should be avoided especially by women of childbearing age and young children (2,3,4). This is gravely out of line with health authorities in Canada, the United States, the U.K., and Europe.
Scientists at the University of British Columbia have found that Vancouver infants of well-educated mothers are born deficient in omega-3 fatty acids because their mothers did not get enough while pregnant (5). This situation is not helped by the organizations which say that there are "health concerns" over farmed salmon. For example:
- Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform
- Chefs Collaborative
- The David Suzuki Foundation (page 5, see below).
- Environmental Defense
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
Source: The David Suzuki Foundation. 2001. Finding Solutions Newsletter. Page 5.
Harvard scientists warn, "The avoidance of modest fish consumption due to confusion regarding risks and benefits, could result in thousands of deaths every year due to cardiovascular disease, and the suboptimal neurodevelopment in young children" (6).
Salmon farming avoids some of the worst risks to wild salmon such as over-fishing, ghost nets, the by-catch of endangered species, the straying of hatchery-born salmon, and the strain of ocean-ranching on the food chain and the carrying capacity of the marine ecosystem. And yet, a "war on fish farmers" has been declared (7).
Senior scientists have raised legitimate questions and concerns about sea lice research by environmental groups and the University of Alberta. Their views have gone largely unreported and unheeded. Instead, their integrity has been questioned.
In British Columbia, government officials who have stood up for salmon farming have had their careers hurt. Some of Canada's best aquatic veterinarians and marine biologists have moved to other places (eg. Tasmania) because they saw a grim future for aquaculture in Canada. The pride and dignity of salmon farmers in British Columbia has been beaten.
No doubt about it, some of the early environmental impacts of salmon farming were unacceptable. In fact, the Executive Director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association admitted in August of 2009, "We carry a little bit forward, some of the early bad reputation that we did earn" (8).
In its early years, the commercial fishing industry also made mistakes. Back in the 1950s, over-fishing got so bad that the U.S. president declared Alaska a federal disaster area. Since then, stocks have been re-built with hatchery fish. Today, about one third of Alaskan "wild" salmon is actually born in a bucket.
The fact is, unless we settle for substantially less salmon for commercial fisheries and for sport fisheries, growing salmon is a necessity. The question that should be asked is what is the best way to grow them in each unique ecosystem.
Salmon farming isn't what it used to be. With experience and hard work, salmon farmers have invented new technologies and new techniques. For example, because of new vaccines, antibiotic usage is a fraction of what it once was. (More info). Thanks to underwater cameras, the use of feed has been cut by half. The difficulties of salmon farming have been widely publicized but the industry's progress has not.
In 2008, British Columbia produced 81,000 MT of farmed salmon for a farm-gate value of $CAN 406 million. In comparison, the commercial wild salmon harvest was 5,000 MT for a landed value of only $20.3 million.
Has opposition to salmon farming protected wild salmon? Millions of dollars are being spent on sea lice instead of other priorities. Ocean-ranching is hardly mentioned and yet it appears to some Alaskan scientists to pose far greater risks to the genetic biodiversity of wild salmon and the carrying capacity of their ecosystem (9,10).
It is sometimes said that Alaska banned salmon farming because of environmental concerns. While that may have been part of the reason, the fact is, its too cold for fish farming in most of Alaska. An American senator once said that Alaska didn't allow salmon farming as it would not know what to do with the fishers.
If fish farming would flourish in the lower 48 states, in Canada and elsewhere, Alaska's commercial fishing industry would face stiff competition. Thwarting the fish farming industry - as the David Suzuki Foundation and other "environmental" organizations are doing - helps to stave off Alaska's competition.
Scared away from farmed salmon, more people are eating "wild" salmon. The value of Alaskan salmon has more than tripled from $125 million in 2002 to $409 million in 2008 (11,12). As prices for Alaskan "wild" salmon have improved, at least 863 more boats are fishing for them (13).
Its fair to ask, why is farmed salmon so vehemently denigrated - by some of the same organizations that enthusiastically promote Alaskan "wild" salmon? Should farmed salmon be boycotted? Who's benefiting from the demarketing of farmed salmon and farmed fish in general? And who's paying for this .... and why?
For more information:
- The American Heart Association, Cardiovascular Disease Statistics
- The U.S. Institute of Medicine, "Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks"
- British Columbia's Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector
- Alaska's Salmon Management: Story of Succcess
Sources:
(1) U.S. Institute of Medicine. Balancing Choices: Supporting Consumer Seafood Consumption Decisions. Fact Sheet. October 2006. Page 3 of the Fact Sheet. Click here.
(2) http://www.puresalmon.org/nyt_ad.pdf
(3) The David Suzuki Foundation. 2001. Toxic Salmon. Study shows BC's farmed salmon contain high levels of contaminates. Finding Solutions Newsletter, Summer 2001. Pg.5. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/files/DSF_Summer_Final.pdf
(4) http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/newsletters/feb2004_food/omega-3.asp
(5) Innis, S.M. and R.W. Friesen. 2008. Essential n–3 fatty acids in pregnant women and early visual acuity maturation in term infants. AJCN 87 (3) 548-557. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/3/548
(6) Mozaffarian, D. & E.B. Rimm. 2006. Fish Intake, Contaminants, and Human Health. JAMA 296(15). 1885-1899 http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/296/15/1885
(7) The Vancouver SUN. 1 April 2008. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=9f75125f-c5f7-42c2-91b8-db42f2f8ea27
(8) Winks, C. Fish farming not the only culprit in salmon decline. CANWEST NEWS SERVICE. 31 August 2009.
(9) University of Alaska Anchorage. Environment and Natural Resources Institute. 2001. Evaluating Alaska's Ocean-Ranching Salmon Hatcheries: Biologic and Management Issues. 77 pages.
(10) Kolmes, S.A. Salmon farms and hatcheries. Environment 46(3), 40-43. Click here
(11) State of Alaska. Alaska Salmon Enhancement Program 2002 Annual Report. Compiled by Craig Farrington. http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/geninfo/pubs/rir/5j03-05/5j03-05.pdf Page 7.
(12) State of Alaska. Fishery Management Report No. 09-08. Alaska Salmon Enhancement Program 2008 Annual Report by Bruce White http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/FedAidPDFs/fmr09-08.pdf Page 10.
(13) Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Silver Anniversary Report. 2006 http://www.alaskaseafood.org/about/reports/documents/annual_report.pdf Page 10.
