As our collective food-conscious develops, and we consider, even question the origins of our food, it is only a matter of time before farmed salmon pays its dues. With the release of the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc., Americans are coalescing around the importance of ‘real food.’ Whether health, economic or environmental concerns lead the way, people from all parts of town are wanting better quality whole foods. The focus of the food movement is seemingly fixated on the production and distribution of fruits and vegetables. Though undercurrent issues occasionally come to the fray, and these include dairy, meat and fish.

In the past I have written extensively on the importance of pastured animals over grain-fed cows, chickens, lambs, etc. (See here, here and here.) It is only a matter of time before large swaths of carnivorous Americans want grass-fed meat to feed their family. And this liberation from CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operation) must include both mammals and fish. Be it marketing or general ignorance, most people do not acknowledge or understand the catastrophic implications of farmed fish.

The video above is an excellent documentary on the practice and consequence of farmed salmon. Just like the cows and chickens of middle America, large quantities of fish are crammed into small spaces. These oceanic CAFOs also utilize the fattening qualities of grain on fish. Like their mammalian brethren, salmon are not supposed to eat grain. Depending on the age, wild salmon’s dietary choices range from other small fish to plankton to kelp. The hype over Omega-3s and healthy fish oil is directly related to the sustenance of wild fish, specifically plants. Just like grass-fed cows, wild salmon also have high levels of Omega 3s, 6s and healthy fats.

But, just like industrial meat production, farmed salmon is disastrous for the environment. Along the coasts of countries around the world, habitats that once streamed with abundant sea life are now desolate. The farming of salmon not only effects the portion of sea that the farm inhabits, but also endangers the rivers and streams where wild salmon spawn and feed. Again, like industrial cattle or pigs, farmed salmon consume excessive amounts of antibiotics because the proximity of so many fish will inevitably breed disease. At the same time, nature’s way of constraining overpopulation brings sea lice to the farm.

A juvenile salmon with sea lice.

According to Watershed-Watch,

Sea lice are small ocean parasites that feed on the skin of fish. Lice normally do not harm adult salmon; however, small numbers of lice may kill juvenile salmon. Scientists agree that the pink salmon collapse in the Broughton Archipelago in 2002 is likely related to sea lice from salmon farms. From an expected 3.6 million salmon, only 147,000 spawning fish returned.

Unsurprisingly, the proliferation of sea lice among farmed salmon spreads to the lives of those that are wild. It is no coincidence that many of the farms are located along the same routes taken by smolts (juvenile salmon) on their way to the ocean to mature. When the wild fish swim near  or through the farmed populations, many of them receive sea lice. It is mentioned in the video that the size of these oceanic parasites are equivalent to 40 pound bugs eating away on a human body. As you might expect, the lice are killing large numbers of farmed salmon and infecting more populations of wild salmon.

In the context of climate change or any macro environmental concerns, these issue have severe implications. Indigenous communities that have thrived on salmon for generations will be greatly affected. Bears and eagles will lose one of their main forms of food. When one piece of the ecosystem is broken, it is only a matter of time before many more factors are disabled.

Without serious regulation and/or the dismantling of fish farming, it is very possible that salmon populations will become so damaged that extinction is a real possibility.

Related posts:

1. Wild Salmon CSA
2. The Grass-Fed Manifesto (Part I)
3. The Grass-Fed Manifesto (part 3)
4. The End of Tuna
5. Food Subsidies – Our Biggest Threat

Tags: corn, fish, Food Politics, food safety, Grass-Fed, NW cuisine