Salmon Farm Falls Apart

[Edelweiss]

Last week extreme tidal action caused one of three floating Atlantic Salmon Farm pens to collapse at Cypress Island, near Anacortes, Wa. Pen contained 300,000, 10+ lb fish and an unknown number, most likely in the tens of thousands escaped. Fish and Wildlife says, no limit go get'm. At 0600 this morning probably 100 plus boats were anchored up to accomplish just that. What a cluster

[Edelweiss]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

last week extreme tidal action caused one of three floating atlantic salmon farm pens to collapse at cypress island, near anacortes, wa. Pen contained 300,000, 10+ lb fish and an unknown number, most likely in the tens of thousands escaped. Fish and wildlife says, no limit go get'm. At 0600 this morning probably 100 plus boats were anchored up to accomplish just that. What a cluster

[AlaskaProf]

Washington's already stressed fishery will suffer for this criminal negligence. This is exactly the sort of mis-management which justifies the State of Alaska's ban on salmon farming. The eclipse has been blamed, as though lunar mechanics are not predictable centuries in advance.

[kev_rm]

The irony is killing me. The differential of taking your boat to catch wild salmon compared to commercial guys is what 5 : 1 ( say, costs you $100/lb ). Farmed salmon? My word.

[john61ct]

Shouldn't really call it Atlantic salmon!

[Rossland]

Originally Posted by AlaskaProf

Washington's already stressed fishery will suffer for this criminal negligence. This is exactly the sort of mis-management which justifies the State of Alaska's ban on salmon farming. The eclipse has been blamed, as though lunar mechanics are not predictable centuries in advance.

Am I missing something here. Arn't govts and conservationists always advocating for an increase in fish stocks. Rather than condemning, we should be thanking this fish farm for adding to the salmon stocks at no cost to the taxpayer. For the Fish and Wildlife Dept to allow fishermen to ignore fishing laws is misguided to say the least.

[john61ct]

Joking right?

Ever heard of "native species" vs feral invasives?

Increasing dwindling stocks is accomplished by backing off on our constant over-harvesting, trying to let nature restore her own balances.

[AlaskaProf]

Originally Posted by Rossland

Am I missing something here.

Yes. You are missing something.

The Atlantic Salmon (salmo salar) is not an anadromous species, like the salmon of the PNW, which spawn in fresh water, grow in the vast oceanic wastes and return to spawn once and die. The invasive Atlantic, which are markedly inferior in every way, compete for habitat and consume juvenile native stocks for multiple years. The reason the State of WA has declared open season is because they want every one eradicated before they spawn. Which won't happen unless they ban farming.

[Padeen]

"The tides, which fuel tidal currents, were not abnormally high around Cypress Island on Saturday, two days before the solar eclipse and the new moon."

Full story:
'Environmental Nightmare' After Thousands Of Atlantic Salmon Escape Fish Farm : The Salt : NPR

[AlaskaProf]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Shouldn't really call it Atlantic salmon!

True. It's a trout with mealy grey flesh which has to be dyed pink in order to present successfully in the supermarket.

[psneeld]

Wikipedia..... "Most Atlantic salmon follow an anadromous fish migration pattern,[3] in that they undergo their greatest feeding and......"

For lox, its OK....and has to do that for many millions of bagel eaters back east.

Agree Pacific Salmon better eating....

But unless the fresh caught salmon out west are better than restaurant Pacific Salmon. The only really good salmon I ever had was up in Alaska.

[john61ct]

Really? I was always told the Scottish was tops? Forty years ago was $40 a pound. . .

Is Nova Scotia the Atlantic type?

[AlaskaProf]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Really? I was always told the Scottish was tops? Forty years ago was $40 a pound. . .

Is Nova Scotia the Atlantic type?

Well, it's complicated.

Nova and Scottish were the best which were available to much of the population, centered in the northeastern US, in the era before overnight air freight made the superior Pacific species available.

But even then, you were talking about "wild caught" Atlantic salmon, which fed on other sea creatures, as opposed to modern farmed fish which eat a pelleted meal consisting of corn, soy, and gods know what else. This crap includes dyes, to create the pink flesh consumers expect, and antibiotics as a prophylactic for diseases likely to occur in the crowded environment existing in the pens.

Think: "Soylent Pink."

[dannc]

Ireland is worried about Atlantic salmon. Just read a story that some had been caught and the government wanted people to report any fish that had been seen or caught so the fish could be tracked. They are worried about the native salmon being impacted by the Atlantic salmon.

Later,
Dan

[john61ct]

Norway's farms are huge, a major part of the non-petro economy.

And I assume an ecological nightmare.

[dhays]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Norway's farms are huge, a major part of the non-petro economy.

And I assume an ecological nightmare.

I know nothing about Norway's fishing industry. What fish are native, and what fish are being farmed?

The biggest problem, as I understand it, is that in the PNW we are farming a fish that is not native to the region. When they get loose, the impact is unpredictable.

In other areas of the world if they are farming a native fish, that issue is gone. There are other issues of course related to farming fish.

[john61ct]

Not fishing, industrial fish*farming*.

The Norwegians also run mega farms all around the world.

Dunno species, but lots of parasite issues, antibiotics that mess with the wildlife.

[Edelweiss]

Originally Posted by dhays

The biggest problem, as I understand it, is that in the PNW we are farming a fish that is not native to the region. When they get loose, the impact is unpredictable.

In other areas of the world if they are farming a native fish, that issue is gone. There are other issues of course related to farming fish.

I wished I would have saved the newspaper article from Wa. Dept of Fisheries. Can't find it now, but basically it answered some of these questions. I found another that paraphrased their comments:

In the 1980's WDFW and BC fisheries attempted numerous times to introduce wild Atlantic Salmon (Salmo) into some of the rivers in BC and Washington. But none of the attempts to establish an Atlantic Salmon population succeeded as the smolts never returned after they were release. (Article didn't say why?)

The WDFW said Atlantic salmon is a “favored species” to farm in cold marine waters because it grows quickly and consistently, is resistant to disease, and is something people like to eat. Farmed Atlantic salmon are more docile, less aggressive and more resistant to disease than wild Pacific salmon. Atlantic salmon also have been bred to more “efficiently turn feed into flesh,”

Atlantic salmon are actually more closely related to brown trout than Pacific salmon. That’s why they don’t breed with Pacific salmon — even when researchers have tried to force it in the lab, Rush said.
ps. (This is why the UK is concerned about the farmed fish, as they're the same genetic species as European Atlantic Salmon and could mess up their wild fish genetic pool.)

According to NOAA, escaped farmed salmon that carry diseases have a relatively low risk of spreading them to wild fish. Mainly because those pathogens are already present in the water, escapees likely won’t be a threat to a healthy wild populations. Farmed fish are domesticated to eat pelleted feed and would be unable to compete in the wild. They disappear quickly in the wild, most often eaten by predators.

Opponents say their greatest concerns are that the permanently moored fish pens may bring with them area pollution, virus and parasite amplification, harm Pacific salmon and our Puget Sound waters.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Edelweiss

I wished I would have saved the newspaper article from Wa. Dept of Fisheries. Can't find it now, but basically it answered some of these questions. I found another that paraphrased their comments:

In the 1980's WDFW and BC fisheries attempted numerous times to introduce wild Atlantic Salmon (Salmo) into some of the rivers in BC and Washington. But none of the attempts to establish an Atlantic Salmon population succeeded as the smolts never returned after they were release. (Article didn't say why?)

The WDFW said Atlantic salmon is a “favored species” to farm in cold marine waters because it grows quickly and consistently, is resistant to disease, and is something people like to eat. Farmed Atlantic salmon are more docile, less aggressive and more resistant to disease than wild Pacific salmon. Atlantic salmon also have been bred to more “efficiently turn feed into flesh,”

Atlantic salmon are actually more closely related to brown trout than Pacific salmon. That’s why they don’t breed with Pacific salmon — even when researchers have tried to force it in the lab, Rush said.

According to NOAA, escaped farmed salmon that carry diseases have a relatively low risk of spreading them to wild fish. Mainly because those pathogens are already present in the water, escapees likely won’t be a threat to a healthy wild populations. Farmed fish are domesticated to eat pelleted feed and would be unable to compete in the wild. They disappear quickly in the wild, most often eaten by predators.

Opponents say their greatest concerns are that the permanently moored fish pens may bring with them area pollution, virus and parasite amplification, harm Pacific salmon and our Puget Sound waters.

Just speaking for myself, but I would rather eat shredded cardboard than Atlantic salmon. The cardboard tastes better.

[Edelweiss]

Originally Posted by Delfin

Just speaking for myself, but I would rather eat shredded cardboard than Atlantic salmon. The cardboard tastes better.

I'm with you. I don't even like eating chicken anymore, it's pumped full of growth hormone and antibiotics, so they can harvest it in a few months! That's just not right