Some 30,000 farmed Atlantic salmon have escaped from their pen off the coast of British Columbia into the Pacific Ocean. Farmed salmon can harm wild salmon stocks -- which are already declining on the west coast -- by competing with them for food as well as spreading disease. In this case, the escaped salmon are also a different species which is not native to the area. A spokesperson for the company that owns the fish farm explains what happened. "One of the anchor lines ... apparently slipped to a low spot on the ocean floor and in so doing pulled down the corner of the cage so much the fish were able to swim out." However, in the fish-farm equivalent of making lemons into lemonade, the farm's spokesdude emphasized the tastiness of the escaped fish if anglers are lucky enough to catch one. "[Anglers] should keep the fish, clean it, and bake in a 400-degree oven with a ginger and green-onion garnish. Then serve with fresh lemon slices," he said. Mmm, tastes like freedom.
source: The Globe and Mail
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Comments
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Wolverine Posted 5:59 am
03 Jul 2008
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hipifreq Posted 6:24 am
03 Jul 2008
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caniscandida Posted 7:25 am
03 Jul 2008
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rythmik1 Posted 7:55 am
03 Jul 2008
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Des Emery Posted 11:13 am
03 Jul 2008
Can you describe the recrimination that any government agency would have to endure if it allowed such a slip-up to happen?
But then, there is nothing worse than a government that is run by private enterprisers.
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Delay And Deny Posted 5:55 pm
04 Jul 2008
Those country salmon won't have a chance when they get a load of those dolled up city salmon.
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Sam Wells Posted 11:20 am
06 Jul 2008
I have no idea if escaped farmed salmon could contaminate the wild salmon genetic pool ... where's Suzanna of Oceana when you need her? -sam
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caniscandida Posted 4:17 pm
06 Jul 2008
If in fact all the escaped salmon are Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), then one would not expect that they should be able to reproduce with the various Pacific Ocean species.
The crustaceans called "sea lice" seem to flourish especially in the CAFO situation. Now that the salmon are swimming free, let us hope that the sea lice are less of a problem for the general populations of wild Pacific salmon.
Suzannah of Oceana is surely there. You just need to click the heels of your ruby slippers three times, in the right way.
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John former Marine Posted 9:58 pm
06 Jul 2008
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akgirl Posted 11:45 pm
06 Jul 2008
A really good resource I've found about the implications of fish farms is by the consumer group Food and Water Watch. Hope it's helpful!
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/fish-farming
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billgee Posted 12:09 am
07 Jul 2008
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amazingdrx Posted 12:13 am
07 Jul 2008
In inland and river outlet waters polluted by fertilizer and manure run off and aquatic overgrowth, floating energy platforms that filter overgrowth and turn it into biogas and organic fertilizer could harbor invasive species separation installations.
The webcam equipment that could identify each fish individually swimming through the system could be monitered and operated remotely.
The great lakes region has severe energy, run off/weed overgrowth, and invasive species problems, research could really benefit our aquatic eco-system just in the nick of time.
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