Salmon farms cause damage to ecology
17 September 2007US - Farmed salmon may be cheaper than wild salmon, but the ecological damage should be considered, too, writes, Eric Spivak.
In a letter to the Statesman Journal, he says that readers also should be aware of the ecological damage caused by salmon farms. The letter was in reposnse to previous article 'The Versatile Salmon' - on both wild and farmed species.
Salmon farming practices involve setting up pens in offshore coastal waters. The high density of salmon in the pens produce large amounts of waste that flows into the surrounding water, which results in the fouling of nearby habitats, the destruction of shellfish beds and the increase of plankton.
Additionally, the crowded conditions in the pens cause disease to spread among the salmon. The disease is spread to the nearby wild fish populations as a result of salmon escaping the pens and from the close proximity of the pens to nearby habitats.
For those who can afford to spend the extra dollar or two, buying wild salmon instead of farmed salmon will help to slow the expansion of salmon farms and the resulting environmental damage.
Source: StatesmanJournal
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