Post by zeolite on Feb 15, 2008 15:52:54 GMT
One mans informed "so he says" opinion.
From the River Cottage forum
From the River Cottage forum
As far as I am aware migratory fish populations are declining, even in areas where there are no fish farms.
Whilst it would be foolish suggest that certain salmon farming practices have no impact on the population of wild salmon, this would not help to explain the decline in numbers of salmon across, say the south/south west of England.
The simple answer, like most things ecological, is that there is no simple answer.
It requires a certain leap of logic to state that the existence of salmon farms on the west of scotland is the sole factor responsible for the difference in salmon populations on the east and west coast.
There are many things that have an effect on anadromous fish populations including: reduction in marine food supply (see: prawn fishing in the case of salmon), man-made alterations to river course structure (dredging, dams etc), and of course damage to spawning areas, plus all the usual ones (pollution etc).
I was pleased to see Hugh acknowledge that salmonids can be farmed responsibly, as I feel that aside from the odd line caught fish, given the growth rate of salmonids, there is no such thing as a sustainable net fishery.
It is a sentiment also echoed by organisations such as the Atlantic Salmon Trust. In the link that Joscin provided, it clearly atates that the AST are working with salmon farmers to establish a code of practice, an activity which wold be pointless if they did not think that it was possible to farm salmon in an 'environmentally friendly' way.
As for the comment that farmed fish suffer an existence similar to broiler chickens, again, I totally disagree, but have to get back to work, so will post more later (suffice to say that chickens and fish are totally different organisms, with vastly different needs).
Whilst it would be foolish suggest that certain salmon farming practices have no impact on the population of wild salmon, this would not help to explain the decline in numbers of salmon across, say the south/south west of England.
The simple answer, like most things ecological, is that there is no simple answer.
It requires a certain leap of logic to state that the existence of salmon farms on the west of scotland is the sole factor responsible for the difference in salmon populations on the east and west coast.
There are many things that have an effect on anadromous fish populations including: reduction in marine food supply (see: prawn fishing in the case of salmon), man-made alterations to river course structure (dredging, dams etc), and of course damage to spawning areas, plus all the usual ones (pollution etc).
I was pleased to see Hugh acknowledge that salmonids can be farmed responsibly, as I feel that aside from the odd line caught fish, given the growth rate of salmonids, there is no such thing as a sustainable net fishery.
It is a sentiment also echoed by organisations such as the Atlantic Salmon Trust. In the link that Joscin provided, it clearly atates that the AST are working with salmon farmers to establish a code of practice, an activity which wold be pointless if they did not think that it was possible to farm salmon in an 'environmentally friendly' way.
As for the comment that farmed fish suffer an existence similar to broiler chickens, again, I totally disagree, but have to get back to work, so will post more later (suffice to say that chickens and fish are totally different organisms, with vastly different needs).