"Wild Caught" is a scam: Fish Farms are contaminating our Oceans and destroying our Health

In the past two decades, a new menace has arisen: open-net salmon farms, also known as floating feedlots. With the farmed salmon industry valued at $20 billion per year and farmed Atlantic salmon reigning as the most popular fish on North American dinner tables, it's crucial to understand the consequences  and health affects associated with this practice.

Farmed salmon, as an industrialized imitation, poses risks to both our health and the environment. These salmon are bred to grow rapidly in crowded cages, resulting in rampant parasite and disease infestations. They are fed pellets made from fishmeal, vegetables, and animal byproducts, a diet accompanied by regular doses of pesticides and antibiotics.

 Labels rarely disclose whether salmon is farmed or provide details about the chemicals utilized in the farming process. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't even have a defined standard for organic salmon. Confusion reigns, making it challenging to discern which salmon is farmed.

Studies conducted as early as 2004 revealed that levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a probable carcinogen, were seven times higher in farmed Atlantic salmon compared to their wild counterparts. 

Additionally, Arizona State University scientists discovered a rise in drug-resistant antibiotics in farmed seafood over the past few decades, raising concerns about increased antibiotic resistance in humans. 

These toxins often accumulate in salmon flesh and can have detrimental effects on individuals who consume the fish.

 Certain studies warn that eating farmed Atlantic salmon just once a month could expose consumers to contaminant levels exceeding the standards set by the World Health Organization. Infants, children, and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable due to the potential harm contaminants pose to developing brains.

Seafood Watch, an independent guide to fish consumption affiliated with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, advises avoiding most farmed Atlantic salmon due to excessive chemical use and disease.

Recent court cases have challenged the industry's sustainability claims. Norway's Mowi ASA, the world's largest salmon farmer, settled a deceptive advertising case in a federal court in New York City, agreeing to pay $1.3 million and cease using the "sustainably sourced" and "naturally raised" labels for its smoked salmon.

Lastly, we examine whether farmed salmon can be raised in environmentally friendly ways. The reality is far from promising. Farmed salmon spend two to three years in open-net farms, crammed into 10 to 12 cages anchored to the seabed and stretching 30 feet below the surface. These overcrowded conditions become breeding grounds for sea lice, tiny parasites, and numerous viruses that harm farmed fish and pose threats to wild salmon when carried beyond the farms by currents.

To combat these issues, large quantities of pesticides, including banned neurotoxins, and antibiotics are employed. Some of these residues end up in the salmon, while others settle on the seabed beneath the cages. The untreated waste from excess feed, decaying fish, excrement, and chemical residues forms a toxic concoction, resulting in the death or displacement of marine life within a considerable radius. Disturbing photographs captured the horrifying sight of a yardstick becoming engulfed in slime at the 32-inch mark below a salmon farm.

Salmon in open-net farms experience high mortality rates due to parasites, diseases, and rising water temperatures. As estimates suggest, 15 to 20 percent of farmed salmon perish each year before harvest, amounting to tens of millions of fish. To put this into perspective, the mortality rates for factory chickens and feedlot cattle are 5 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. 

Young wild salmon embarking on their migration journeys face heightened vulnerability to sea lice outbreaks originating from the farms. Escaped farmed salmon compete with their wild counterparts for food and dilute the gene pool through interbreeding.

Despite up to 85 percent of the salmon consumed in the United States being imported from farms in Norway, Chile, Scotland, and Canada, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pays minimal attention to farmed salmon in terms of food safety. 

The concerns surrounding farmed salmon pose critical questions that demand attention. The health implications, environmental impact, and sustainability of this industry deserve careful consideration as we navigate the path toward a more informed and conscientious approach to our seafood consumption.

The singer Björk stated that Iceland had the largest untouched wilderness in Europe, observing that in the summer “sheep have roamed free in the mountains” and “fish have swum unrestricted in rivers, lakes, and fjords.”

Given the pristine state of Iceland’s nature, it was a “big shock” when Icelandic and Norwegian businessmen started setting up fish farms in the majority of Iceland’s fjords, according to Björk. She went on to explain that she and others were at a loss at how these farms had been operated for the better part of a decade without any regulatory framework or legislation.

“This has already had a devastating effect on wildlife,” Björk observed, stating that the farmed fish had suffered in “horrid health conditions,” noting that many of them had escaped into local streams, potentially spelling the extinction of wild salmon in Iceland.

Survival of wild salmon under threat