suchandra 1 Report post Posted July 8, 2008 Usually vegetarians are mainly concerned about so many miilions of mammals being unnecessarily slaughtered for satisfying the taste buds of bitchy backwoodsmen who consider that vegetarian food doesnt make it to nourish us properly. However, what happened at the organised fish production - also euphemized as AQUACULTURE remained almost uncommented. Meanwhile these fish farms in Chile, Canada, Norway etc produce every year, believe it or not, 1.26 million tons of fish to satisfy the hungry bellies of 6 bn people. First considered as eco-friendly, fishfarming is getting more and more a thread to pollute environment with dramatical consequences. Report of WWF, http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/aquaculture/item5220.html Aquaculture Salmon http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/aquaculture/item5220.html Once a luxury food, salmon is now one of the most popular fish species in the United States, Europe and Japan. Total salmon production has increased three-fold since 1980 to meet this demand. The largest growth has been in farmed, not wild caught, salmon. Approximately 60 percent (1.26 million metric tons) of the world's salmon comes from fish farms. Norway and Chile produce close to two-thirds of the world's farmed salmon. Norway is an ideal location for farming salmon, as most of its coastline is protected from storm surges and waves and the water temperatures are favorable. Chile's extensive coastal areas and close proximity to a large and clean source of fish meal make it a prime location for salmon aquaculture. Other significant producers include the United Kingdom and Canada. Farmed salmon are most commonly grown in cages or pens in semi-sheltered coastal areas, such as bays or sea lochs. The cages -- usually large, floating mesh cages -- are designed to hold salmon but are open to the marine environment. Juvenile salmon are hatched and raised to become smolts in freshwater before they are transferred to these marine open systems to grow. Main impacts of salmon aquaculture The rapid expansion of the salmon aquaculture industry has not come without impacts - both real and perceived. The seven key environmental and social impacts are: Benthic impacts and siting: Chemicals and excess nutrients from food and feces associated with salmon farms can disturb the flora and fauna on the ocean bottom (benthos). Chemical inputs: Excessive use of chemicals - such as antibiotics, anti-foulants and pesticides - or the use of banned chemicals can have unintended consequences for marine organisms and human health. Disease/parasites: Viruses and parasites can transfer between farmed and wild fish, as well as among farms. Escapes: Escaped farmed salmon can compete with wild fish and interbreed with local wild stocks of the same population, altering the overall pool of genetic diversity. Feed: A growing salmon farming business must control and reduce its dependency upon fishmeal and fishoil - a primary ingredient in salmon feed - so as not to put additional pressure on the world's fisheries. Fish caught to make fishmeal and oil currently represent one-third of the global fish harvest. Nutrient loading and carrying capacity: Excess food and fish waste in the water have the potential to increase the levels of nutrients in the water. This can cause the growth of algae, which consumes oxygen that is meant for other plant and animal life. Social issues: Salmon farming often employs a large number of workers on farms and in processing plants, potentially placing labor practices and worker rights under public scrutiny. Additionally, conflicts can arise among users of the shared coastal environment. Our solution WWF seeks to address these impacts through the salmon aquaculture Dialogue. The goals of the Dialogue are to: Develop and implement verifiable environmental and social performance levels that measurably reduce or eliminate the key impacts of salmon farming and are acceptable to stakeholders Recommend standards that achieve these performance levels while permitting the salmon farming industry to remain economically viable The Dialogue ensures open and transparent dissemination of information between the stakeholders participating. Read the full list of Dialogue objectives. Steering Committee The Dialogue process is driven by a Steering Committee that includes representatives from Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform Fundación Terram Marine Harvest Pew Environment Group Norwegian Seafood Federation SalmonChile Salmon of the Americas Skretting WWF Technical Working Groups One of the Steering Committee’s current functions is managing the technical working groups it created to research the key impacts associated with salmon aquaculture. Each working group is tasked with producing a "State of Information Report" that reviews the status of existing research related to the impact, identifies gaps or areas of disagreement in the research and suggests a process for addressing the gaps. Click here to read and comment on the five reports that have been completed. Principles Salmon Dialogue participants are developing principles that address the key impacts associated with salmon aquaculture. The principles will provide the framework for the criteria, indicators and standards for responsible salmon farming. The criteria will aim to provide direction on how to reduce each impact and the indicators will address how to measure the extent of each impact. Standards will be quantitative performance levels that evaluate whether a principle is achieved. The draft principles, developed by the Steering Committee and presented for initial feedback at the January 2008 Dialogue meeting, are: Obey all applicable international and national laws and comply with local regulations Continually improve practices Conserve natural habitat and local biodiversity Protect the health and genetic integrity of wild populations Use resources in an environmentally efficient and responsible manner Manage disease and pests in an environmentally responsible manner Develop and operate farms in a socially responsible manner Be a good neighbor and conscientious coastal citizen The Steering Committee is discussing the addition of a preamble or other principles. Click here to read the complete explanation of draft principles.Learn more: Download the most recent salmon aquaculture Dialogue fact sheet in English and Espanol Read more about what to consider when buying farmed salmon Read the salmon Dialogue meeting reports Read more about salmon Review the latest reports about the environmental and social impacts related to salmon aquaculture Read about the technical working groups that are addressing each impact Read the full list of the Dialogue objectives Click here for a complete list of Dialogue participants Learn more about WWF's rationale behind the salmon Dialogue Read more about the other aquaculture Dialogues WWF is working on Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
