No future for ocean-polluting salmon farms in BC
Scientists blame the deaths on several factors, from ocean warming caused by climate change to the aquaculture industry’s overuse of antibiotics and pesticides and its aggressive attempts to increase production. Beyond the staggering number of dead fish, the findings raise questions about the future of growing salmon in cages on the ocean—and aquaculture in general.
A single open-net pen salmon farm can contain a million or more fish, leading to high concentrations of diseases and parasites that kill farmed salmon and endanger nearby marine life and migrating wild salmon. Open-net pens extend 30-feet below the surface and allow currents to sweep excess feed, feces, and chemicals into the surrounding waters.
“There is no future for salmon aquaculture in ocean sea cages,” says Bill Taylor, President, Atlantic Salmon Federation.
It’s time to remove ocean-polluting Atlantic salmon farms from BC waters and transition them to land-based facilities where water temperature and other conditions can be controlled.