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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tackles farmed salmon feed controversy
Tom Levitt
11th January, 2011
Channel 4 series will look at ecological cost of producing millions of tonnes of fishmeal for Scottish salmon farms - first revealed by the Ecologist back in 2008
The murky world of fishmeal production and how it is used by Scottish salmon farms is to be exposed by campaigner and author Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
A three-part TV series, 'Hugh's Fish Fight', starting on Channel 4 tonight, will look at the British fishing industry and explore why fish stocks are in such rapid decline.
Based partly on the groundbreaking Ecologist investigation, 'The greed of feed', from 2008, the programme will focus on the salmon industry in Scotland and how it is reliant on imported fishmeal linked to unsustainable practices.
The Ecologist previously travelled to Peru, the world’s leading exporter, supplying 28 per cent of the UK’s fishmeal, and documented a host of unreported environmental and social costs – including pollution and health problems, overfishing, and impacts on ecosystems and wildlife - all arising from the production of fishmeal and fish oil, principal ingredients in farmed salmon feed.
Salmon production requires huge amounts of fishmeal - an estimated 4kg of wild fish is needed for every 1kg of farmed fish produced. However, the ecological impacts of fishmeal production and the consequences for communities who are losing sources of fish for themselves, has left many to question whether it is sustainable.
‘The salmon we produce is eaten by the mouths of people in the USA and Europe, but the asshole is here in Latin America,’ Jean Carlos Cardenas of Ecoceanos told The Ecologist. ‘The true cost of the cheap salmon you eat is being paid with the blood of our people and the health of our oceans.’
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Users Comments
Re: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tackles farmed salmon feed controversySooo...then the ecologist and Hugh are happy to ignore some important fact then;
- the fish meal fishery in South America is one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world. Has been for 50 years.
- 50% of it goes to chickens, pigs, dogs and cats. These land animals don't utilize fish meal as efficiently as fish.
- most importantly, if you are suggesting that folks eat wild salmon instead of farmed, then perhaps fair to mention that 50% of wild salmon from Alaska were born in a hatchery, fed the same fish feed (yes, fish meal from Peru). When released into the ocean to continue growing, these hatchery fish continue to eat wild fish at a much higher rate than farmed salmon do.
- Alaska wild salmon use more fish meal than Scottish salmon farms.
Not fair to your readers if you don't give them all the facts. Nice for them to be able to make up their own minds by having all information when making choices at the market. | |
Re: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tackles farmed salmon feed controversyGood Morning Cake.
Yes, its true that the commercial fishery for wild salmon may not utilize the best methods for fishing, but that doesnt make the fish farms more sustainable. You cant ignore the social impacts of the fish farm industry. | |
Re: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall tackles farmed salmon feed controversyHi Peter;
Actually, I think you may have misunderstood my post. I was not referring to, nor criticizing the commercial methods for fishing wild salmon, but I was pointing out the fish meal usage for wild (hatchery) salmon is perhaps greater. The focus for Hugh F-H has been the use of fish meal, so this is important.
If Hugh is taking fish farmers to task for the use of fish meal (and going to ignore pork and chicken and pets who also use the resource) then he should at least balance this against other fish producers who use fish meal to grow their product.
6 billion (yes...Billion) hatchery salmon (only intended for human consumption-just like farmed salmon) are released in the North Pacific. Just because the fish meal isn't in the form of a pellet, doesn't mean it should be ignored, as it brings important context to the issue.
The use of fish meal is an important discussion, but it's a little strange for Hugh to be focussed on the one user who is actually the most efficient user.??? |
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