Why Massive Numbers of Farmed Salmon Are Dying

The popularity of farmed Atlantic salmon on dinner tables worldwide has been a disaster for the king of fish. A new study determined that 865 million farmed salmon have died in mass die-offs in the last decade. The 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. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Salmon farming has expanded rapidly in the past 25 years into a $20 billion-a-year industry. Farmed salmon are advertised as an environmentally friendly and sustainable solution to the need for animal protein for the world’s growing population. But mass die-offs and other controversies have challenged these claims. Salmon are raised in crowded cages floating near coastlines, called open-net pen farms. A single 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. The nets extend 30 feet below the surface and allow currents to sweep excess feed, excrement, and chemicals into the surrounding waters. The peer-reviewed paper published this month in Nature was the first to analyze global data on these sudden die...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized freelance Sustainability Source Type: news