1 million farmed salmon have escaped from cages in Scotland and may interbreed with wild salmon, spread desease among wild stock and menace their genetic.
Great, just great. I think that eventually wild trout and salmon may come very close to being wiped out worldwide within my lifetime. Between stocked fish and cases like this, they simply can't compete. They're simply outnumbered!
Bruce Sandison, jounalist and writer has launced the http://www.salmonfarmmonitor.org/
which sends out news letters and keeps up the political pressue over here worth a look.
Farmed salmon is pollution when it spills into the habitat of wild salmon. There needs to be strong worldwide regulation to enfore grave circumstances to those who pollute, so grave that they finally start to properly operate these farms in a manner that escape will not occur. If no such regulation can't be put in place, then perhaps some legal precedent to sue the pants off any company who is negligent in this respect. Anything to put the impetus to stop these escapes into the exploding salmon farming industry.
It's ironic that when we talk about tweaking around with human genetics, we get ourselves into a furious debate. However, when it comes to genetic pollution for salmon, most don't seem to care. It's really going to be up to sportsmen and environmentalists to wage this war since once again, the concerned minority will have to belly up to the bar in an ambivalent society.
Both Pete Dube and Marc Leblanc have both landed Steelhead in well known Atlantic Salmon water in the Maritimes. Pete's came from the the smaller branch of the Margaree and Marc had a client land one on the Petite just this year. Needless to say that both fish wound up on the local biologists desk.
I agree that it's bad that farmed Salmon are showing up in numbers with the wild fish, how about non-Native Steelhead there as well?!?! I've heard these are farmed fish. Which begs the question, why are we farming non-Native species in the same waters as the Natives? About the last thing I want on the end of my line is some mix of the two, though it would be quite the fight I'm sure.
Absolutely, any species that is a threat to the welfare of the indigenous strains trying their hardest to sustain themselves despite what we do are the problem.
In the native trout waters of the northeastern US smallmouth and largemouth bass have been illlegally or legally (or naturally) introduced into waters where wild trout are decimated.
Lampreys invaded the great lakes, even exotic weeds are chocking waters around the continent. Zebra mussels, the list goes on and on.
The key point here is that while big business (salmon farms) profit, the wild strains of many species suffer. If we are in fact the stewards of the resource we need to be very concerned regardless of the endeared species or those which threaten them.
I fished a beat on the River Dee a couple of years ago. This particular beat promotes 100% catch & release.
This is the norm on the Dee. However, having caught 3 salmon through the week, I was offered 3 sides of smoked salmon (farmed) as a reward for returning the wild fish.
Although a this is a good gesture, I find the reward being a farmed fish contradictory to say the least.
Since fishing this partucular beat I have found out that this practice is the norm on many catch and release beats on the Dee and other beats.
May be an alternative would be more appropriate. A bottle of Scottish water possibly? :hihi:
Gordon,
Many beats on the Dee are doing that now, offering Whisky, because of complaints from the rods that by offering farmed salmon, they were in effect supporting the salmon farming industry.
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