Some may assume that farming fish, rather than over-fishing wild stocks, would be the most environmentally friendly option, but as with many things “Green”, sustainable seafood choices are not so black or white. In some cases the eco-option is a sustainable wild catch, in others, fish farming as practiced in Canada, US, or Australia may be best. To help us make green choices at the fish counter, many environmental organizations offer lists of what species, fishing practices, or geographic origins to avoid. See the pocket sized Sea Choice Alert Card, Greenpeace Canada’s Redlist, or Seafood Watch which even has a downloadable app for your iPhone[i]!
Aquaculture, or fish farming, can be a sustainable option depending on the species and country of production. The Sea Choice’s Alert Card include farmed species such as Tilapia and Trout, of US origins, as well as clams, mussels, and oysters, as a Best Choice[ii]. However, when it comes to salmon, one of the most popular fish choices in Canada, aquaculture has spawned a new breed of environmental hazards. With salmon aquaculture dominating Canadian production and Canada being the fourth largest producer of Atlantic salmon in the world, this is a home-grown issue[iii].
Commercial salmon farms are not self-contained ecosystems; they are often floating, open-net cage pens in the ocean. Therefore, the effects of farming, such as waste matter, uneaten feed, and dead fish, are felt in the open ocean; oxygen-deprived environments, or dead-zones, can extend up to 200 metres beyond the limits of the salmon nets. The long list of the negative impacts of salmon farming include pollution of chemicals, escape of farmed fish into the wild population, marine mammal deaths, waste-build up on the ocean floor, algae blooms, over use of anti-biotics, and the spread of disease and parasites[iv]. To make matters worse, the location of these farms along shore and coastlines corresponds to some of the most delicate and bio-diverse marine environments, including mangroves, coral reefs, and wetlands, which are destroyed in the process[v]. Finally, salmon are carnivorous, and are fed wild-caught fish, a practice which merely depletes the wild stock of other species in order to create salmon protein[vi].
One of the most devastating effects of salmon farming has been the transmission of parasites, predominantly sea lice, from the adult farmed population to the juvenile wild population, which encounter the open nets as they leave their home rivers and enter the ocean for the first time. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, sea lice has killed more than 98 percent of the wild pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago, in British Columbia as the result of nearby salmon farms. Needless to say, wild salmon populations along the coast may be wiped out if these rates of disease transmission continue[vii]. Globally, salmon farming has reduced wild salmon and trout populations by up to 70 percent in several areas, threatening the endangered populations farming was designed to protect[viii].
There are sustainable aquaculture solutions which don’t place the burdens of production, such as waste disposal and chemical pollution, on the open environment. Primarily, these methods involve a shift to closed production systems. Closed containment saltwater aquaculture systems can grow salmon with little or no interaction with the surrounding marine environment[ix]. Other closed system options include multi-tropic aquaculture, aquaponics or integrated rice-fish cultures, all of which derive ways to channel waste products into plant cultivation without contaminating the local environment, thus producing a healthy and sustainable food production system[x].
Of those species on Greenpeace Canada’s Redlist, farmed Atlantic salmon is among the five species consumed in the highest quantity (the others being shrimp, scallops, tuna, and Atlantic Cod [xi]. Since Canadian shoppers are buying so much salmon, making the decision to buy wild over farmed salmon can have a significant impact on the demand for sustainably harvested seafood. Demanding clear and detailed labelling at the fish counter is enables a sustainable choice. Customers need the common and scientific names of fish species, the catch area, fish stock status (over-fished, threatened, depleted), type of aquaculture used (open-net vs. closed containment), fishing method used (trawl or long line), and date of catch.
Environmentalists have been heralding the collapse of wild fish populations for decades but the rise in misguided farming techniques make matters worse. From land, the vast oceans can appear lifeless and fish are generally not considered cuddly, so activists struggle to bring marine issues to the fore and convince the public that the fish, the oceans, and all life within it are in crisis. Send a message to those over-exploiting and harming the world’s marine environments and choose wild salmon and other sustainable fish and seafood products at the grocery store and ask for a comprehensive labelling system to help you make those sustainable choices.
Aquaculture, or fish farming, can be a sustainable option depending on the species and country of production. The Sea Choice’s Alert Card include farmed species such as Tilapia and Trout, of US origins, as well as clams, mussels, and oysters, as a Best Choice[ii]. However, when it comes to salmon, one of the most popular fish choices in Canada, aquaculture has spawned a new breed of environmental hazards. With salmon aquaculture dominating Canadian production and Canada being the fourth largest producer of Atlantic salmon in the world, this is a home-grown issue[iii].
Commercial salmon farms are not self-contained ecosystems; they are often floating, open-net cage pens in the ocean. Therefore, the effects of farming, such as waste matter, uneaten feed, and dead fish, are felt in the open ocean; oxygen-deprived environments, or dead-zones, can extend up to 200 metres beyond the limits of the salmon nets. The long list of the negative impacts of salmon farming include pollution of chemicals, escape of farmed fish into the wild population, marine mammal deaths, waste-build up on the ocean floor, algae blooms, over use of anti-biotics, and the spread of disease and parasites[iv]. To make matters worse, the location of these farms along shore and coastlines corresponds to some of the most delicate and bio-diverse marine environments, including mangroves, coral reefs, and wetlands, which are destroyed in the process[v]. Finally, salmon are carnivorous, and are fed wild-caught fish, a practice which merely depletes the wild stock of other species in order to create salmon protein[vi].One of the most devastating effects of salmon farming has been the transmission of parasites, predominantly sea lice, from the adult farmed population to the juvenile wild population, which encounter the open nets as they leave their home rivers and enter the ocean for the first time. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, sea lice has killed more than 98 percent of the wild pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago, in British Columbia as the result of nearby salmon farms. Needless to say, wild salmon populations along the coast may be wiped out if these rates of disease transmission continue[vii]. Globally, salmon farming has reduced wild salmon and trout populations by up to 70 percent in several areas, threatening the endangered populations farming was designed to protect[viii].
There are sustainable aquaculture solutions which don’t place the burdens of production, such as waste disposal and chemical pollution, on the open environment. Primarily, these methods involve a shift to closed production systems. Closed containment saltwater aquaculture systems can grow salmon with little or no interaction with the surrounding marine environment[ix]. Other closed system options include multi-tropic aquaculture, aquaponics or integrated rice-fish cultures, all of which derive ways to channel waste products into plant cultivation without contaminating the local environment, thus producing a healthy and sustainable food production system[x].
Of those species on Greenpeace Canada’s Redlist, farmed Atlantic salmon is among the five species consumed in the highest quantity (the others being shrimp, scallops, tuna, and Atlantic Cod [xi]. Since Canadian shoppers are buying so much salmon, making the decision to buy wild over farmed salmon can have a significant impact on the demand for sustainably harvested seafood. Demanding clear and detailed labelling at the fish counter is enables a sustainable choice. Customers need the common and scientific names of fish species, the catch area, fish stock status (over-fished, threatened, depleted), type of aquaculture used (open-net vs. closed containment), fishing method used (trawl or long line), and date of catch.
Environmentalists have been heralding the collapse of wild fish populations for decades but the rise in misguided farming techniques make matters worse. From land, the vast oceans can appear lifeless and fish are generally not considered cuddly, so activists struggle to bring marine issues to the fore and convince the public that the fish, the oceans, and all life within it are in crisis. Send a message to those over-exploiting and harming the world’s marine environments and choose wild salmon and other sustainable fish and seafood products at the grocery store and ask for a comprehensive labelling system to help you make those sustainable choices.
[i] Seafood Watch iPhone App http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iPhone.aspx); Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) Image farmed and danergous.org
[ii] SeaChoice Alert Card http://www.seachoice.org/profile/result?rating=1
[iii] Greenpeace Canada “Out-of-Stock” page 12 http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/recent/out-of-stock-the-report
[iv] CAAR http://farmedanddangerous.org/
[v] “Out-of-Stock” page 10
[vi] “Out-of-Stock” page 10; “Fish Farms” Creative Commons Licence Flickr by Voux
[vii] David Suzuki Foundation “Closing in on Environmentally Sound Aquaculture” page 5 http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Publications/Closing_in_aquaculture.asp
[viii] “Out-of-Stock” page 10
[ix] “Out-of-Stock” page 13
[x] Greenpeace Canada “Challenging the Aquaculture Industry on Sustainability” page 16 http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/challenging-aquaculture
[xi]“Out-of-Stock” 19
[ii] SeaChoice Alert Card http://www.seachoice.org/profile/result?rating=1
[iii] Greenpeace Canada “Out-of-Stock” page 12 http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/recent/out-of-stock-the-report
[iv] CAAR http://farmedanddangerous.org/
[v] “Out-of-Stock” page 10
[vi] “Out-of-Stock” page 10; “Fish Farms” Creative Commons Licence Flickr by Voux
[vii] David Suzuki Foundation “Closing in on Environmentally Sound Aquaculture” page 5 http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Publications/Closing_in_aquaculture.asp
[viii] “Out-of-Stock” page 10
[ix] “Out-of-Stock” page 13
[x] Greenpeace Canada “Challenging the Aquaculture Industry on Sustainability” page 16 http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/challenging-aquaculture
[xi]“Out-of-Stock” 19
