http://seattleweekly.com/features/02...-hotdish.shtml

BIG FISH, BIGGER POND
Phew, that was a close call. On Dec. 7, existing pressure from the
biotech industry, the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission
adopted a permanent ban on genetically engineered salmon in fish farms
in all state waters, protecting endangered wild Pacific salmon
populations from the harm posed by those supersized, oft-diseased
robofish.

Or did they? The U.S. government may be putting its foot down,
stomping on environmentalists' big, victorious hearts. It seems that
Washington state (along with Alaska and other eco-conscious
territories) can ban genetically engineered fishies till the cowfish
come home, but the Dec. 5 issue of Nature reports that the federal
government is gearing up to permit farming of the scientific
wonderfish in deep-sea fish farms outside state-controlled waters.
That would create a (Nature's term) "gold rush" among aquaculture
companies vying for offshore site access. Environmentalists opposing
the plans say a fish farm is a fish farm, and deep-sea or not, the
rates of escape and disease are high and the threat on already
endangered wild populations still stands.

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/...nboycott.shtml

Web posted Tuesday, December 17, 2002


'Farmed and Dangerous' urges boycott of farmed salmon
By LINDA ASHTON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

YAKIMA, Wash. - It's not uncommon for out-of-town visitors to stop at
Greg Higgins' cozy bistro in Portland, Ore., hoping to order the
nightly salmon special.

But if it's out of season, chances are they're out of luck.

"We serve only hook-and-line caught fish - and most of the fisherman I
know personally," Higgins said.

And if the salmon aren't wild, he won't be serving them for dinner.

Higgins is one of several dozen West Coast restaurateurs and retailers
supporting a British Columbia-based boycott of farmed salmon in
protest of existing aquaculture techniques.

"I believe there's a need and a place for aquaculture, but the open
net-pen system is not a way to conduct it," he said.

From the Northwest to New England, salmon farming's critics contend
the operations are a waterborne version of the terrestrial feed lot,
contributing to ocean pollution, competing unfairly with wild fish,
and spreading disease.


Now a group called the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform is
aiming a "Farmed and Dangerous" campaign directly at consumers, who
can get salmon year-round, often for as little as $3.99 a pound.

"There is a concentrated campaign going on to slander the product,"
counters Kevin Bright, operations manager for Cypress Island, which
owns all of Washington's eight sal****er salmon sites. "What they're
using basically is scare tactics."

Aquaculture was a $37 million business in Washington state in 2001,
composed primarily of Atlantic salmon and oysters. Cypress Island
raises 15 million to 18 million pounds of Atlantic salmon here each
year. Salmon farming is illegal in Alaska.

In British Columbia, it's a $300 million-a-year (Canadian) business
with at least 85 salmon farms, and more than 85 percent of the fish
are exported to the United States.

Rebecca Goldburg, a senior scientist for Environmental Defense in New
York, said untreated salmon waste from net pens is fouling the oceans.

"In the case of feedlot production ... the mantra is to keep the poop
out of the water," she said. "In salmon farming, we allow huge numbers
of feedlot animals to discharge their waste into coastal waters
without any kind of treatment.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web links
For more on the Internet, check out
http://www.farmedanddangerous.org
http://www.edf.org
http://www.salmonfarmers.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Obviously, fish naturally go in water. It's when you get huge numbers
of critters in one place, whether it's hogs ... or salmon, the
concentration of waste becomes unacceptable."

In Washington, state regulatory standards prevent buildup of fish
waste around net pens, which are inspected and monitored routinely,
said state Sen. Dan Swecker, a Rochester Republican and former
director of the 32-member Washington Association of Fish Farmers.

"In the final analysis, the fish pens themselves are the very best
barometers of what's happening in the environment. If there is any
kind of environmental degradation, the farmer and the fish would
suffer," Swecker said.

On the East Coast, the owners of Maine's two largest salmon farms -
Atlantic Salmon of Maine and Stolt Sea Farm - were found this summer
to have violated the federal Clean Water Act by failing to obtain
permits to discharge feed and other potential contaminants into
coastal waters.

A federal judge is expected to decide this winter what, if any, fines
the companies should pay and rules they will be required to follow in
the future.

Environmental groups on both sides of the continent want some dramatic
changes made in the industry, said Jennifer Lash, coordinator for
CAAR's "Farmed and Dangerous" campaign and director of the Living
Oceans Society in Sointula, B.C.

The coalition wants zero discharge of fish farm waste, zero risk of
escapes, and the elimination of the use of antibiotics in farmed
salmon, among other goals, she said.

Industry representatives contend that the antibiotic issue is a red
herring.

"The use of antibiotics is more tightly regulated in fish farming than
any other kind of farming," said Vivian Krause, a spokeswoman for the
Netherlands-based Nutreco, the largest salmon feed and salmon farm
company in the world.

In the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of farmed salmon escaped from net
pens, but new cage designs and improved anchors have helped reduce
those losses in recent years, Swecker said.

"We don't want our fish to escape. Each one of those fish represents
time, materials and money that we've put into it," said Bright,
operations manager for eight sal****er salmon sites.

Environmentalists contend that escaped fish unfairly compete with
native Pacific salmon and spread disease. Swecker said farmed Atlantic
salmon don't breed with native stocks on the West Coast, nor are they
as aggressive as their wild counterparts.

"We like them stupid and fat. That's our motto," Swecker said. "They
spend less time swimming around and more time lying around."

The Washington state Fish and Wildlife Commission earlier this month
adopted a new rule that requires Puget Sound fish farmers to submit a
plan on minimizing and preventing escapes.

In the end, though, it might be flavor that determines consumers'
choice more than anything.

"Wild salmon tastes better, in our opinion," said Lane Hoss, a
spokeswoman for Anthony's Restaurants, which has 18 restaurants from
Olympia to Bellingham.

While Hoss had not heard anything about the boycott, she said: "We've
just always been committed to wild salmon."

To each his own, Swecker said; some people prefer the taste of farmed
salmon.

"They are blander in taste because of what they're fed. Typically
Americans prefer white fish that are deep-fat fried. It's a matter of
preference."