The Environmental Effects Of Aquaculture

“Why should the leaders of chemical businesses be held responsible for polluting the marine environment with a few grams of effluent, which is sublethal to marine species, while celebrity chefs are turning out endangered fish at several dozen tables a night without enduring a syllable of criticism” (Charles Clover, 2004).

One of the most commonly shared beliefs about aquaculture is that it has potential to amplify and transfer disease/parasites to wild fish populations, but strict management practices and guidelines have been utilized and supplemented to ensure that US farming operations mitigate current and potential environmental risks associated with aquaculture (NOAA, 2015). Among these practices are regular diver-led inspections to investigate the integrity of nets and net infrastructure, surveillance cameras and even public webcam feeds that monitor the fish farms and in particular monitor efficient use of feed, regular health inspections in efforts to have a head start on disease prevention and detection, and “comprehensive sanitary and biosecurity programs to prevent the introduction and/or spread of pests or diseases from one farm site/cage to another or into the environment.” (NOAA, 2015). Additionally, movements are being made to stop the spreading of disease and to limit oceanic pollution by containing salmon in solid tanks rather than in netting. “In Washington State, Domsea Farms has launched a land-based, freshwater system to produce coho salmon.” (David Suzuki Foundation, n.d.) This method is not only environmentally sound, but it opens up aquacultural boundaries. By containing fish in these large tanks, there is potential for salmon aquaculture to

Aquaculture can be defined as farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants both in freshwater and saltwater. It has a wide range of ownerships from small family business to multimillionaire global industries.1It provides many job opportunities throughout the world. As an example Canadian aquaculture industry valued $ 5 billion Canadian dollars provides more than 130 000 jobs only in Canada.2Accelerated growth of aquaculture causes series of problems to both human health and environment.3Most bacterial species resides both in animals and well as in human will pathogenic to both. transfer of pathogens between the two host species is a common situation for most organisms.4 Most of the developing country aquatic farms are non-hygienic and stressful. This will lead to an increase of bacterial infection among most aquatic species. As a preventative and curative method farmers mix a huge amount of antimicrobial products with the aquatic feed.5 Since aquaculture is a global industry, Implemented laws and regulations are different from country to country. It is very difficult to implement global regulations relating to antimicrobial use.1

May 2007 to April 2009 Update Over the past two years, AFC has faced more intense competition, particularly from aquaculturists in Chile. In addition, Chilean output has increased the supply of salmon and the Canadian dollar has strengthened in relation to the U.S. dollar. As a result, AFC has been unable to meet its budgeted revenue targets. Stocks of unsold harvestable fish have increased, as well as the corresponding cost of maintaining the fish, and the company barely made a profit in fiscal 2009. In January 2009, AFC lost one of its largest retail customers, S&F Seafood, to a new salmon aquaculture firm, Nu-Farm Inc. This new

There are many risks associated with eating farm-raised salmon versus wild- caught salmon. One risk that farm raised salmon faces is contaminants that can lead to cancer. Farm raised salmon are placed in artificially made bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, and salt water and within these bodies of water, contaminants such as PCBs can be present. Cancer causing chemicals can be present in both the water, farm-raised salmon swims in, and the food they eat. Another risk with farm-raised salmon is the use of antibiotics in order to keep the fish healthy. This unknown amount of antibiotics used on the fish can lead to a resistance to the antibiotic used to kill the bacteria’s in both human and the salmon. The humans that are consuming the fish that possess these antibiotics are unintentionally

Researchers believe that the declining salmon populations are mainly the result of the four H’s, harvesting habits, hydropower, habitat loss, and hatchery fish (Ruckelshaus et al., 2002, pp. 679). Harvesting habits refers to the impact overfishing has on the salon populations (Ruckelshaus et al., 2002, pp. 679). Every year, around 385,000 metric tons of Pacific salmon are caught by commercial fisherman and with weak stock conditions, the natural life cycle of these fish cannot keep up (Knapp, 2007). Hydropower refers to the dams that currently block many rivers in the Pacific Northwest that prevent salmon from reaching or returning from their native spawning grounds (Gore and Doerr, 2000, pp. 40-41). This means that salmon cannot breed as

According to a study done by Living Planet Report in 2015, 29% of the world’s fishing stocks are considered overfished and an additional 61% is fully exploited with no possibility to produce more fish. Our environment is currently afflicted by a number of different problems, one of which is overfishing. Overfishing is defined by FishOnline as, “Fishing with a sufficiently high intensity to reduce the breeding stock levels to such an extent that they will no longer support a sufficient quantity of fish for sport or commercial harvest.” The overfishing situation is being exacerbated by non-sustainable and destructive fishing practices and unfair fisheries partnership agreements; while there are currently attempts being made at fixing these problems and their effects on overfishing, nothing has been extremely effective.

The Chinook salmon is vastly sought after in Cook Inlet and Southeast Alaska by fishers because of its great value as a sport fish. The annual value of sports industry in Alaska is about $500 million and the annual harvest looms around 170,000 fish. (“CSU”, n.d.). However, to make the fisheries

In Canada, the Grand Banks habitat is in “environmental degradation” (Connor and Taitano) due to bottom trawlers tearing up the sea floor displacing and destroying the vegetation at the seafloor and therefore disrupting the habitat of the small fish the cod prey upon (Connor and Taitano). Bottom trawls also disrupt the “breeding patterns of the cod.. Damaging fertilized eggs.. And greatly reducing the amount of young born” (Connor and Taitano). In the United States, the Gulf of Maine provides evidence of a loss of the young and old cod due to predation (Connor). Farming atlantic cod, like many fisheries are doing to replenish the atlantic salmon populations, have resulted in a breakout of the disease Yersiniosis (Connor and Taitano).The disease affects the fish’s intestinal tract before spreading throughout its body. The mortality rate with this disease is low, about 5%, however the illness prevents the affected cod from being sold at a market due to health violations (Connor and

When fish like salmon are farmed, often the fish are still kept in the ocean; however, they live inside of nets so that they are still contained. There are many ethical arguments based around these net systems because these nets pose threats to wild salmon. Captive salmon can escape from the nets, which allows them to breed with wild salmon. This can disrupt the natural gene pool of wild salmon. Farmed salmon have been shown to outgrow wild salmon when introduced into the wild, and typically have higher mortality rates, which would be poor traits to be introduced into the wild gene pool, (Hindar, et al., 2006). Unfortunately, with the invasive farmed salmon being introduced to wild populations from escapees of net systems, the recovery of the original wild salmon is unlikely, even if decades went by without more intrusive farmed salmon being present, (Hindar, et al., 2006). Another problem is that the nets do not contain wastes from the captive salmon inside, wastes such as uneaten feed, and feces from the fish are dispersed into the open waters of the ocean. Wild salmon can contract infections and parasites from captive farmed salmon in nets. A study indicated that these parasites, such as sea lice, and infections lead to high mortality rates in wild salmon passing near

Much of the world’s salmon is now farmed. Farmed salmon has had many problems with infectious diseases including salmon anaemia and sea lice (Valdes-Donoso, Mardones, Jarpa, Ulloa, Carpenter, & Perez, 2013). Fish that are farmed tend to have a lot more contact with diseases. To prevent and treat this, fish farmers utilize many chemicals and antibiotics that can, in turn, damage the ocean. However, with genetically modified salmon that are raised in inland tanks, disease introduction is limited and can be easily identified and treated without harming the environment around it (Aquabounty Technologies, 2014). This leads to healthier fish and a healthier ocean. In salmon farms along the coast of Scotland, about 1.9 million salmon escaped between 2002 and 2009 (Green, Penman, Miguad, Bron, Taggart, McAndrew, & Browman, 2012). As stated by Green et al. “Potential detrimental effects could include increased infestation by sea lice, competition for food or other resources, and interbreeding enabling the spread of farmed genes into the while population thereby lowering fitness” (p. 1). This is one of the many problems that stem from salmon farming. In contrast, genetically modified salmon will be bred inland and entirely contained so that salmon will not be able to escape

Another global effect of overfishing is fish farming or aquaculture. It was first started to help preserve the ocean and hoped to help people to obtain a reliable fish source. Unfortunately, what many came to realize is the downside of fish farming. One example is water contamination, where consequently waste products such as foods eaten, feces and other dead fish, are all dumped into our main water supply which contributes to water pollution. Moreover, chemicals that are used to treat the fish farms like antibiotics and algaecides are all released into the ocean; which is a real cause for concern for our oceans. Fish that come from the fish farms are pumped full of drugs, to prevent sickness in the fish but this is not healthy for us to eat. There is also a great environmental impact which includes the fact that to sustain fish farms, portions of

Walmart has a large retail seafood business and it is always a challenge to reduce cost and promote sustainability. With upward trend for the demand of sea-food, depletion of the seafood supply is inevitable unless Walmart have a deep engagement of their supply chain. One strategy that Walmart wants to promote to their suppliers is for all of them to take up the Marine Stewardship Council’s certification program. This process will be time consuming, expensive and complex. The depletion of some fish poses a threat to Walmart and its seafood supply chain.

According to the United Nations, 17% of fish stocks worldwide are currently overexploited; 52% are fully exploited; and 7% are depleted. This means that only an estimated 20% of worldwide fish stocks are not already at or above their capacity(Seafarms, 2013). Catches of Pacific herring have decreased by 71% since the 1960s, with Atlantic herring catches falling by 63%. Atlantic Cod catches have fallen by 69% in the same time(Seafarms, 2013). These are just a few of many facts and statistics on the topic of overfishing. The effects of these statistics and facts impact people’s and animal's lives around the

Pollution is a damaging with fish farming. A group of wild fishing being fed to fish in the ocean will eventually transfer disease. As well, fish pollute the water from their wastes. Fish farming also affects the growth and genetics of the fish because they are not in a wild environment. More research should be completed to provide more adequate information and prevent negative outcomes for fish farming.