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SUBJECT: Fish Farming Update
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 12:07:27 -0400
From: Bill Mott
To: FishFarmRev
1) Poll released by British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association claims wide
suport for expansion
2) Pan Fish grows in Scotland; may expand into Washington State
3) Fewer sea lice in Norway so far this year
4) EWOS update
5) Norwegian research-institute chosen to lead development of Brazilian
aquaculture industry
6) George Weston figures
7) Omega-3 fatty acids help with depression
________________________________________
From: Bill Mott, Coordinator
E-Mail Address: BillMott@compuserve.com
Organization: *Ocean Awareness Campaign* and *SeaWeb Salmon Aquaculture Clearinghouse*
________________________________________
Does anyone have the full script and results of this poll?
1) Poll Shows Support for 'responsible' BC Salmon Farm Expansion VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, May 20,
1999 (ENS) - A
poll released today at the British Columbia
Salmon Farmers
Association annual meeting in Vancouver found
that 69 per cent of
British Columbians support the growth of salmon
farming in B.C., while
13 per cent are opposed.
Aerial view of B.C. inland waters
shows salmon farm in the
foreground (Photos courtesy BCSFA)
MarkTrend asked a representative
sample of 504 British Columbians
whether they would support the
expansion of salmon farming in B.C. if
the 49 recommendations identified in
the recently completed Salmon
Aquaculture Review were turned into
workable solutions. By a majority of
five to one, respondents in all
demographic groups and geographic
regions supported the responsible
expansion of salmon farming in B.C.
Approximately 80 salmon farms exist in
B.C. today. A moratorium on permits
for new aquaculture operations has been in
effect since 1995. A
Cabinet decision on the industry's application
to lift the moratorium
has been anticipated for well over a year.
"It's extremely heartening that British
Columbians have come to
understand both the economic potential of
salmon farming, and to
appreciate that it is an environmentally sound
and sustainable
industry," said Anne McMullin executive
director of the British
Columbia Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA).
The survey found that 71 percent of those
polled agree that salmon
farming is an environmentally sound and
sustainable industry.
Seventy-eight percent agreed that salmon
farming is an important
part of the province's future economic
development and job creation.
Farmed salmon is a premium quality food product
said 72 percent.
Fish farm
workers
The MarkTrend
poll is considered
accurate within
+/- 4.4%, 19
times out of 20.
But critics of
B.C.'s type of open
net salmon
farming say it is not
environmentally
safe. David
Hocking,
communications
director with
the Vancouver
based David
Suzuki Foundation
says there are
dangers to the
health of wild fish from the transfer of
disease from open net cages.
Hocking cites the possible contamination of the
wild salmon gene pool
from escapees that get out of the open net
cages and could colonize
west coast streams. The farm fish are Atlantic
salmon and Hocking
says they could displace Pacific salmon from
their home streams.
There is also a danger to the health of humans
and other marine life
from the antibiotics used to keep farm fish
free of disease, Hocking
says. "The antibiotics dropped into the open
ocean are ingested by
other passing aquatic species, and diseases can
mutate to deal with
these antibiotics," he told ENS in an
interview.
Hocking also said that as humans eat farm fish
laced with antibiotics,
they can develop resistance to the drugs so
that when antibiotics
are prescribed by physicians they may not be as
effective as they
are expected to be.
To avoid these problems fish farmers should use
closed systems,
Hockings says. "Instead of an open cage, a hard
system completely
separates the farmed from the wild environment.
All sewage is
treated. You won't have the mingling between
wild and farmed fish.
You won't have escapes. You won't have sewage
fish fecesn and
uneaten food. You won't have problem of
predators such as seals
and the programs farmers use to keep predators
away."
"You don't need antibiotics as much, and if you
ever do they would
stay in the one pen where they are needed."
Hard-sided systems that have been tested are
more expensive to set
up but have lower operating costs, Hocking
says.
Norwegian marine design
firm PROCEAN contracted
Vancouver Shipyard in
December 1998 to build its
innovative design ocean
catamaran system for
Omega Seafarms of Port
Hardy, B.C. This first
six-cage unit was
completed in March.
But the Salmon Farmers Association feels that
the poll results justify
their current methods of operation. "McMullin
told the BCSFA
meeting, "Salmon farmers have invested heavily
in state-of-the-art
technology and environmental practices, and in
strengthening
relationships with the coastal communities in
which we operate.
These results confirm that we're on the right
track for fostering a
world-class salmon aquaculture industry here in
B.C."
But Hocking disagrees. "When we can see the
pollution from
industries such as those on land we don't allow
them to pollute," he
says. "Industry must bear its environmental
costs. We're not against
aquaculture; it's extrmely important. We're
against any industry that
assumes it can grow by passing its
environmental costs onto the
general public."
The B.C. aquaculture industry rang up sales
revenues for 1998 of
Cdn$298 million.
B.C. produced 39,255 tonnes of fresh farmed
salmon in 1998, up more
than 20 percent over 32,514 tonnes in 1997.
The industry's total contribution to the B.C.
economy was Cdn$613
million in 1998, up more than 25 per cent over
$487.8 million in 1997.
PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant Dave Egan
said the B.C.
industry's increased production last year
primarily served the growing
U.S. market.
The 1999 B.C. Salmon Farmers Association annual
meeting was
attended by B.C. Fisheries Minister Dennis
Streifel, federal
Aquaculture Commissioner Yves Bastien, as well
as representatives of
municipal governments, coastal communities,
First Nations and
salmon farm workers.
© Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All
Rights Reserved.
>From IntraFish:
2) Pan Fish growth: The multinational aquaculture company Pan Fish ASA has
had its largest growth last year in Scotland.
05/18/99 07:00
"Good growth conditions for the fish and buying of new fish
farms - the latest one
in March this year - have created the foundation for a
profitable business in
Scotland. The production capacity has increased 6-fold
since Pan Fish came to
Scotland.
Pan Fish also has a strategy to grow salmonids in
North-America. To reach that
goal, the company has made an agreement of intention to buy
a company in the
State of Washington, USA. This will increase Pan Fish's
production capacity by
50% to 15,000t, and the company will become the largest
salmon producer in
that part of the world," Sunnmorsposten, a Norwegian
newspaper, wrote.
3) Fewer sea-lice
So far this year, fish farmers and veterinarians along the
coast of Norway
report on better fish health than in recent year, also with
fewer sea-lice in
the salmon cages.
05/19/99 07:00
Veterinarian Paal Haldorsen from Hydro Seafood Rogaland
said in the newsletter
Scan Vacc-info that there has been very few sea-lice last
winter and this spring.
The colleagues of Mr Haldorsen along the coast are giving
similar positive news
about improving fish-health and lower amount of sea-lice.
4) EWOS sold as a whole?
Mr Carl Seip Hanevold, MD of feed-producer EWOS in Norway,
believes that the EWOS factories around the world will be
sold as a
whole, not in pieces, as some have predicted.
05/20/99 07:00
"I assume the the Danisco-Cultor (which owns EWOS) merger
will be completed
in about one to two months. A sale of EWOS will not be
decided until the merger
is done. And after that, a sale will take quite a long
time," Mr Seip Hanevold told
SBR.
"I have not received any signals from potential
EWOS-buyers, but I am not
insecure about the future for the Norwegian EWOS fish-feed
plant. In my time, I
have experienced the sale of this factory twice before.
Both times it has resulted
in a vitalisation of our activities and of the plant," Mr
Seip Hanevold said.
5) Brazil chooses Akvaforsk
After making a full survey of Brazils' aquaculture
industry, the
Norwegian research-institute Akvaforsk were chosen by the
Brazilian
government to lead the building and development of the
aquaculture
industry in the country.
05/18/99 07:00
"This is a unique opportunity, where most of the Akvaforsk
know-how can be
implemented," Akvaforsk said in their 1998 annual report.
6) George Weston Ltd
Sales from continuing operations for the first quarter of
1999 reached
CAD $4.70 billion, which ise CAD $1.60 billion, or 52%
higher than last
year's $3.09 billion.
05/14/99 07:00
Farmed salmon pricing among some other higher sales more
than offset the
negative sales impact of the B.C. Packers disposal.
7) Salmon on your mind..
The fatty oil found in salmon, may alleviate the symptoms
of manic
depressives, researchers said yesterday.
05/17/99 07:00
Researchers found that patients suffering from manic
depression given capsules
containing fish oil experienced a marked improvement over a
four-month period.
(Reuters)
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SUBJECT: Don't Buy The (Fish) Farm
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 13:04:59 -0700
From: "David Gordon"
I thought you might all be interested in this article --
David
Don't Buy The (Fish) Farm
by Richard Manning
On the dock over the Columbia river at the end of 11th street in Astoria.
No farm salmon sold here, but not everyone has this kind of fresh fish in
their neighborhood.
We northwesterners say that salmon define us. These fish are icons that set
us apart from the rest of the world and anchor our existence in this sodden
place, especially now when the struggle to preserve salmon emerges as
emblem of the deeper struggle to preserve the integrity of our entire
landscape.
Yet this local focus misses something: Salmon are not ours alone, but are
and have been ensnared in a global net, an even stiffer challenge to their
survival.
My context for this is Astoria, Oregon, my home and a place local if ever
one was. The wooden gillnet boats, the rubber boots, the crab traps and net
floats piled in pickups all announce that the maritime culture that once
permeated the whole Pacific coastal strip survives here in refugium.
I can still buy local fish from local fishermen who are my neighbors.
There's a little market on the pier that prides itself on its
community-based food chain, but in all too many recent days its shelves
have been empty. On such days, the helpful people who run the place send me
up the street to a chain supermarket where one can buy fresh prawns from
Thailand and farmed Atlantic salmon from Chile. I think locally, but I eat
globally. Nothing new in this, even for my isolated little town.
In 1820, Astoria packed its first commercial salmon in barrels and shipped
them to London, which is where most of the town's catch--and that from the
Columbia, Fraser, and Skeena rivers and Puget Sound--flowed for nearly a
century, sponsoring a decimation of the fishery from which the whole
Columbia Basin has never recovered.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is not a conflict between the environment and the economic realities
of feeding the world.
Salmon farming fails the economic test as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canned Pacific salmon in working-class lunch buckets fueled England's
industrial revolution, as surely as coal did. World War I fed on salmon,
literally. The coastal streams of our region began flowing downhill into a
global pool long before GATT or NAFTA were glimmers in a freetrader's eye.
So how do global forces bear on us today? The news is, the dominant force
is not scarcity (as empty market shelves would suggest) but excess (as the
price local fishermen receive for their catch would suggest). Chinook
salmon, for instance, have fallen from $5 a pound twenty years ago to $1 a
pound now (see graph below). In recent years, Alaskan waters have been
producing well, an increase in supply that is one factor in the low price,
but not the dominant one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ex-Vessel prices averaged annually for Chinook salmon harvested using troll
gear in the open ocean and landed in Oregon, 1976-1996. Prices shown are
adjusted for inflation using a 1996 base year. Click here for year by year
figures supporting this graph.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. April 1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest factor is aquaculture: farmed fish, salmon kept captive their
whole lives in floating pens that are the maritime equivalent of cattle
feedlots.
In 1980, fish farms accounted for about 1 percent of all salmon production;
fourteen years later, the share was 36 percent, the result of a boom in
Norway, Scotland, and Chile. Farmed salmon are expected to account for more
than half of all salmon production in as few as five years.
The marketers, especially those who would expand beyond the salmon farming
already practiced in the Puget Sound and around Vancouver Island (a small
part of the global picture), tell us aquaculture is good because
artificially raised fish will take pressure off the beleaguered wild stocks
and at the same time provide a hungry world with more food. The
environmentalists counter that salmon farms pollute, and fish that escape
the pens (mostly Atlantic salmon) can spread disease to wild fish and
compete with them for food. The environmentalists are right, but set their
arguments aside for a second. This is not a conflict between the
environment and the economic realities of feeding the world. Salmon farming
fails the economic test as well.
Does salmon farming take pressure off wild stocks? A commercial fisherman
is generally less interested in the number of fish caught than in the total
income the catch generates. If a fishermen earns one-fifth the amount per
fish, he must catch five times as many to maintain his income (which
regulations, of course, forbid). So regulations are opposed and violated
more frequently, and more fishers go broke than a decade ago.
Yet this supply-demand-price haggle is but a small part of this picture, a
narrow view of economics. Despite what you may have heard in the incessant
jobs-versus environment debate, biology respects an economic logic,
ordering its market with the food chain. Species use resources according to
their positions in the chain. The chain serves no free lunch, particularly
a free protein lunch, which is to say that the protein of a farmed salmon
does not come out of thin air.
Animals low on the food chain eat plants. Cows eat the carbohydrates in
grass to make protein. Animals higher on the chain eat animals. They eat
protein to make protein, losing as much as 90 percent of it in the process
of maintaining life forces. This is why we don't, as a rule, raise
predators for food. We don't farm lions because it would be stunningly
inefficient.
But we do farm salmon, and salmon are predators. They derive their protein
from protein; they eat fish. Estimates vary, but there is a metabolic loss
in each step up the food chain. For instance, the Worldwatch Institute says
it takes about five grams of captured fish protein -- converted to fishmeal
-- to make each gram of farmed fish protein. Fishmeal is produced globally,
especially from sardines off South America and especially from herring in
the North Pacific.
Worldwide, aquaculture is sponsoring a secondary fishery that vacuums the
ocean floor like a Shop Vac. Ocean fisheries historically have depleted
fish stocks, but until recently were at least somewhat selective to
marketable species. However, when the end product is fishmeal, most of what
shows up in a net can be ground into the mix, setting the stage for a
decimation of the ecosystem the way markets for wood pulp set the stage for
clearcuts. Wild salmon graze this ecosystem selectively, efficiently
harvesting its protein for us. Our blundering nets know only how to destroy
it and move on.
Fish farming takes the relatively low-cost protein of species like sardines
and herring (much of it once consumed directly by the world's poor),
reduces its volume by a factor of five, and then sells it to the world's
wealthiest consumers. Meanwhile, wild salmon, those few that are left,
hatch to fingerlings and migrate to oceans only to find that the fishmeal
trawlers have beat them to the herring.
Locally, one does what one can. To date it has taken all we can muster,
maybe more, to begin putting the salmon's world back together watershed by
watershed, piece by piece. Our attention has been drawn to logging and dams
and the restoration of streamside habitat. We'll go on with this work.
Yet if we are to take a reasonably realistic view of the job ahead, larger
issues must be faced. One can travel to remote villages on Thailand's
Andaman Sea and find fishermen reduced to using cyanide and dynamite to
wring the last ounce out of a subsistence fishery hosed out by a passing
factory trawler seeking fishmeal. The air of desperation in this scene
rings just the same in First Nations villages fighting both fish farms and
low salmon prices on Vancouver Island, and it echoes, too, in the empty
shelves and empty nets of Astoria.
Yet just off the Interstate anywhere at all, the "salmon and shrimp
special" at the fast-food chain is still $4.95, and everywhere it tastes
the same.
It's hard, sitting here in Astoria, to decide what one ought to do about
this. At the very least, I know where I'll buy my fish, even if it means
going without some days. And I know how I will react when someone proposes
starting a fish farm in this town.
BACK TO TIDEPOOL
Astoria resident Richard Manning's most recent book is One Round River
(Henry Holt, 1998). Click here to read the New York Times Review or read
the first chapter. This essay is based on his work with Interrain Pacific
and Ecotrust on The New Pacific Salmonscape, a regional atlas of salmon
that will be published next year.
-----------------------------------------
David Gordon
Pacific Environment and Resources Center
1440 Broadway, Suite 306
Oakland, CA 94612
Tel: 510-251-8800 x 304
Fax: 510-251-8838
www.pacenv.org
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SUBJECT: Salmon showdown in MaineUpdate
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 14:10:41 -0400
From: Bill Mott
To: FishFarmRev
Things heating up in Maine...
________________________________________
Bill Mott, Coordinator
E-Mail Address: BillMott@compuserve.com
Organization: *Ocean Awareness Campaign* and *SeaWeb Salmon Aquaculture Clearinghouse*
________________________________________
Copyright 1999 Guy Gannett Communications, Inc.
Portland Press Herald
May 23, 1999, Sunday, CITY EDITION
SECTION: MAINE/NEW ENGLAND, Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 1571 words
HEADLINE: SALMON BATTLE PITS STATE AGAINST
FEDERAL AGENCIES; KING RESISTS EFFORTS TO PUT RESTRICTIONS ON FISH
FARMS IN ORDER TO PROTECT WILD ATLANTIC SALMON.
BYLINE: DIETER BRADBURY Staff Writer
BODY:
A showdown is looming between the state of Maine and federal fisheries
agencies over Gov. Angus King's refusal to put restrictions on fish
farms to protect endangered populations of wild Atlantic salmon.
The federal agencies, supported by private conservationists, want the
state to ban foreign strains of salmon from fish pens on the coast so
escaped fish won't interbreed with wild salmon in Maine rivers.
But King and other state officials are lining up behind fish farmers,
who say the foreign strains produce bigger, healthier salmon that are
essential to the survival of Maine's $ 60 million aquaculture industry.
The outcome of the dispute will have a major impact on the future of
the industry, as well as the state's effort to protect dwindling
populations of wild salmon in coastal rivers.
King has made jobs -- especially in economically stagnant areas such as
eastern Maine -- a top priority of his administration. The governor
also defeated a federal effort to put wild salmon on the Endangered
Species List so the state could retain control over salmon with its own
conservation plan.
The federal agencies are now reviewing Maine's plan. If the aquaculture
issue isn't settled to their satisfaction, they could put salmon on the
Endangered Species List, giving federal officials ultimate authority
over fish farming, logging, blueberry growing and other land uses near
salmon rivers.
"That's something we're really concerned about," said George D.
Lapointe, commissioner of the Department of Marine Resources, who has
been trying to negotiate an agreement on the issue.
Farmers are raising about 1 million salmon in pens scattered among 27
sites on the eastern Maine coast. The farmed fish have become an
increasingly popular food item, while wild fish are protected by
catch-and-release regulations to conserve their depleted stocks.
Joseph McGonigle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture
Association, said a third of the farmed fish contain European strains
of genetic material. He said the industry uses foreign strains partly
because
there are not enough local fish or eggs to meet the farmers' needs, and
partly for genetic reasons.
When Maine and European bloodlines are mixed, they produce a fish that
weighs 8 to 10 pounds at the end of the growing season, rather than 4
to 6 pounds. The hybrid fish are also more resistant to the bacterial
infections and other diseases that can ravage farm operations.
"That's the edge we need to have in order to be able to compete in our
home market," McGonigle said.
But fisheries' biologists worry about the impact of farmed fish on
Maine's dwindling population of wild salmon.
Many pens are located near the mouths of five rivers in Washington
County that still support migratory runs of wild fish: the Narraguagus,
Pleasant, Dennys, Machias and East Machias.
If aquaculture fish escape from pens and interbreed with wild fish,
they can spread disease or introduce genetic material that could weaken
the wild salmon's ability to adapt to its environment.
In a letter to the state in April, the National Marine Fisheries
Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service described aquaculture fish
as a "major potential threat" to wild salmon. The agencies urged the
state to ban foreign strains and take other steps that would prevent
disease and escapes from pens.
The Department of Marine Resources responded last month by agreeing to
adopt into regulations a code of practices that the aquaculture
industry had developed voluntarily. The code will require farmers to
use hardened pens for European strains of fish, among other measures.
But the federal agencies are not satisfied.
Mary Colligan, a fisheries biologist at the National Marine Fisheries
Service, said the proposed regulations do not solve all of the concerns
about genetic intrusion by European strains.
"Our preferred approach is that they not be used at all," she said.
Lapointe, the state's marine resources commissioner, has been trying to
negotiate a settlement among state and federal officials and the
aquaculture industry. He praised fish farmers last week for agreeing to
regulations that will authorize the state to enforce the industry's
voluntary code of practices.
But he said he could not say whether the genetics issue would be
resolved.
"I'm still working on it," he said. "It's a tough issue for the
aquaculture industry and the fisheries service, and we will continue to
do everything we can to push that issue (to an agreement)."
Much is at stake for fish farmers. The aquaculture industry provides
960 jobs and an average annual wage of $ 35,000, mostly in Washington
County, where the per capita income is only $ 7,300.
It pays another $ 2 million in revenues to the transportation industry
and ships products as far away as Los Angeles and Atlanta. But
McGonigle says Maine farmers can't compete with operations in Chile or
Norway unless they are allowed to use foreign strains to boost weight
and maintain health.
"We are doing everything we can to hang onto our share of the domestic
market," he said.
McGonigle also questioned the assumptions behind the government's
concerns about fish farms.
He said only one fish has been known to escape from a Maine pen, and it
was captured in a weir in the Narraguagus River before it could spawn.
He said there is no evidence farmed fish have spread disease to wild
Maine salmon.
McGonigle accused biologists of blaming aquaculture for the failures of
government fish management plans.
But others point to the chronic depletion of wild salmon stocks as
reason for federal intervention.
Last year, only 1,353 salmon are known to have returned to Maine
rivers, based on weir or fishway counts. That includes 22 fish on the
Narraguagus and one on the Dennys. The three other Downeast rivers did
not have weirs.
The state is trying to restore wild salmon runs in the rivers under a
1997 conservation plan that links residents, industry, landowners and
public officials in a coordinated effort to protect fish and their
habitat.
The plan relies largely on voluntary efforts to prevent erosion,
pesticide exposure and irrigation drawdowns, and to use other measures
to protect the fish and their spawning and feeding habitats.
Lately, biologists have devoted much of their attention to
investigating anew virus that killed a number of wild salmon from the
Pleasant River at a federal hatchery in Massachusetts last year.
The same virus was recently found at the Craig Brook National Fish
Hatchery in Orland, among fish from the Narraguagus, Machias and East
Machias rivers.
No hatchery fish are known to have been killed by the disease in Maine,
and biologists allowed the stocking of 3 million young fish to proceed
this month after samples tested negative for the virus.
But officials know little about where the disease came from or how it
is transmitted.
Federal agencies are studying the virus as part of a review of the
status of wild salmon populations in Maine. At the same time, they are
also analyzing the state's first-year progress report on the
conservation plan to see whether it's working, or whether the fish
needs to be placed on the Endangered Species List.
The agencies expect to finish the review in June.
Colligan, the federal fisheries biologist, said the aquaculture issue
will play an important role in the federal government's evaluation of
Maine's conservation efforts. But she would not say whether the
government will list the fish if Maine doesn't ban European strains
from fish farms.
Private conservation groups, however, are urging the federal government
to do just that.
Trout Unlimited, a national coldwater fisheries group with several
Maine chapters, said the wild salmon need federal protection because
the state conservation plan is inadequate.
"Where salmon farming is concerned, the state's approach is 'see no
evil, hear no evil,' " said Charles F. Gauvin, national president of
the 100,000-member organization.
The Atlantic Salmon Federation, a conservation group with chapters in
Maine and Canada, said it would support a listing unless King bans the
use of European strains in fish farms.
In a letter this month to King, federation President William Taylor
said Maine's Department of Marine Resources "appears to be oblivious"
to the genetic contamination issue.
The federation's move is significant because it has been a strong
supporter of the state plan. Many of its members serve on local
watershed councils that are trying to carry out the plan.
And when other conservation groups sued the federal government last
year for accepting Maine's plan in lieu of a listing under the
Endangered Species Act, the federation refused to join in the suit.
King, in a recent letter to Taylor, pointed to progress the state has
made on the new code for fish farmers and additional funding for salmon
conservation programs. "We're making real progress," reads a
handwritten note at the end of the governor's letter. "Stick with us!"
But Sue Scott, a spokeswoman for the council in New Brunswick, said the
organization is running out of patience.
She said the state only seems to act when outside groups apply
pressure.
"More and more, we're coming to a conclusion that the plan was more a
public relations exercise by the state than a feeling that wild salmon
are important to save," she said.
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SUBJECT: Antibiotics resistance - call to action from EDF
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 18:44:52 -0400
From: Bill Mott
To: FishFarmRev
The following comes from Dr. Becky Goldburg (with the Environmental Defense
Fund and co-author of Murky Waters: Environmental Effects of Aquaculture
in the U.S.) The issue is a serious concern with modern, intensive
agriculture and aquaculture.
________________________________________
Bill Mott, Coordinator
E-Mail Address: BillMott@compuserve.com
Organization: *Ocean Awareness Campaign* and *SeaWeb Salmon Aquaculture Clearinghouse*
________________________________________
ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: A GRAVE THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH--
By Dr. Rebecca J. Goldburg, EDF ecologist in the New York office.
Imagine that you accidentally cut yourself. The cut becomes
infected. No one can treat the infection, and it moves into
your bloodstream. You become extremely ill and die.
Dying from a cut seems highly unlikely to most Americans
today. But it was a frightening possibility only 60 years
ago, before the development of antibiotic drugs. In the near
future, as more and more disease-causing bacteria become
resistant to treatment by antibiotics, some bacterial
infections could again become untreatable.
For example, more than 90% of strains of Staphyloccous
aureus bacteria, a common cause of hospital Staph infections,
are now resistant to penicillin. More than 30% are resistant
not only to penicillin but also to every other antibiotic
used to treat Staph infections--except one, vancomycin. Now a
vancomycin-resistant strain of Staph has emerged, which is
untreatable (but, luckily, still rare). Last year in New
York, a man in his 70's died after being infected by
vancomycin-resistant Staph.
Even when antibiotic-resistant infections are not deadly,
they are costly to treat and debilitating to patients.
Doctors now must often treat patients with a series of
antibiotics before finding one that is effective.
The Problem: Overuse of Antibiotics
Bacteria develop their antibiotic resistance as an
evolutionary response to the widespread use--and overuse--of
antibiotics. Human medicine is the major user of antibiotics,
but not by much. Farmers actually use more than 40% of all
antibiotics sold in the United States today. Both sectors
need to reduce the use of antibiotics.
In human medicine, doctors too often prescribe antibiotics
imprudently, such as when patients with colds demand them.
(Colds are viral infections against which antibiotics have no
effect.) Antibiotics should be prescribed only when medically
necessary.
About 80% of the antibiotics used in agriculture are added
to poultry, hog, and cattle feed, not to treat sick animals
but to promote growth and prevent disease. This
indiscriminate and non-essential use of antibiotics in
agriculture dangerously increases the possibility that these
antibiotics (and other closely related ones) will be
ineffective when needed to treat people.
Overuse of antibiotics in agriculture has led to serious
antibiotic-resistance problems in foods. Strains of
Salmonella and other disease-causing organisms found in raw
and undercooked meat are increasingly resistant to several
antibiotics. One strain of Salmonella that is resistant to
five different antibiotics increased from 0.6% of specimens
tested in 1980 to 34% in 1997.
Because of these increasing levels of resistance, a
relatively new class of antibiotics, the fluoroquinolones,
has become the top choice for treating life-threatening
Salmonella infections. But these drugs could also be lost to
resistance. Despite strong opposition from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approved use of fluoroquinolones for
poultry in 1995. In Britain, use of fluoroquinolones on
animals has already led to resistant Salmonella.
U.S. Lags Europe in Curtailing Antibiotics on Farms
Few people would choose to allow drugs to be robbed of their
life-saving effectiveness in exchange for small benefits to
agribusiness, particularly for non-essential uses such as
promoting weight gain in farm animals. Sweden banned all non-
therapeutic use of antibiotics in agriculture in 1986, and
the country has evolved a highly successful system of meat
production that does not depend on these drugs.
A 1997 World Health Organization report recommended ending
the use in animal feed of all antibiotics used in human
medicine, as well as closely related drugs. In an initial
response, the use of four antibiotics in animal feed was
banned throughout Europe last year.
The U.S. government, unfortunately, has been reluctant to
reduce the widespread use of antibiotics in agriculture. In
the 1970's, the FDA proposed to ban certain uses of
penicillin and other antibiotics in animal feed. The
proposals raised a storm of protest from legislators
representing agribusiness interests, and they were never made
final. Since then, health threats from antibiotic-resistant
bacteria have continued to mount. As more and more people
suffer infections that are difficult to treat and
occasionally deadly, these problems are approaching a crisis
stage.
EDF has gathered the support of more than two dozen
organizations to urge FDA to strengthen its proposal on
limiting new uses of antibiotics in agriculture. Even though
FDA's current proposal is far too weak to protect human
health, it has already been strenuously attacked by the
pharmaceutical industry and agricultural interests.
Furthermore, it is not sufficient merely to limit new uses
of antibiotics. The current overuse of antibiotics both in
human medicine and in animal feeds must be quickly curtailed.
EDF has joined several prominent public interest
organizations in petitioning FDA to revoke its approvals for
existing uses of six antibiotics in animal feed, consistent
with the recommendations of the World Health Organization and
the Centers for Disease Control.
EDF MEMBER ACTION ALERT
The Food and Drug Administration is unlikely to revoke
currently approved uses without strong public support. EDF
members can support EDF's petition by urging FDA to ban human
antibiotics in animal feeds. Write to Dr. Jane Henney,
Commissioner, U.S. FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 1471,
Rockville, MD 20857.
[Caption: Becky Goldburg]
[Caption: Cattle and other farm animals such as hogs and
poultry are routinely dosed with antibiotics to promote
growth and prevent disease.]
(5) [MULTILINGUAL INFO CLEARINGHOUSE]
-- Back to the Table of Contents --
SUBJECT: Maine salmon farming scrutinized
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 18:45:02 -0400
From: Bill Mott
To: FishFarmRev
Good article on the current situation in Maine.
________________________________________
Bill Mott, Coordinator
E-Mail Address: BillMott@compuserve.com
Organization: *Ocean Awareness Campaign* and *SeaWeb Salmon Aquaculture Clearinghouse*
________________________________________
From: Ellsworth American Thursday, May 27, 1999
Blue Hill Bay Under the Microscope Over Atlantic Salmon Farming Plans
By Gregory Williams
BLUE HILL To farm or not to farm (salmon that is.)
That is the question floating around Blue Hill Bay these days as
proposals to raise more than a million finfish in the bay meet
with concerns from scientists, state and federal organizations
and residents.
Many concerns expressed to date revolve around the environmental
impact finfish farms may have on the health of the bays waters
and marine life.
The aquaculture proposals, made by Atlantic Salmon of Maine and
Acadia Aquaculture, involve raising salmon to be sold in larger
consumer markets, using net pen aquaculture techniques.
The fish would be raised from smolts to market size within
24-square-meter steel pens. They then would be harvested,
processed and trucked to markets primarily along the eastern
seaboard of the United States.
Potential Impacts
Area residents in recent weeks have expressed concern about a
variety of potential impact farms may have on the surrounding
environment. Among the concerns are low-current velocities, the
bays ability to flush waste produced by the fish into the Gulf
of Maine, increased algal and bacterial growth and the loss of
biodiversity.
"My feeling is if we have reasonable doubts, it is better to look
for sites we can be more confident in," says Neal Pettigrew, an
associate professor of physical oceanography at the University of
Maine in Orono and a Blue Hill resident. "We have the technology
to study this bay in plenty of detail."
Pettigrew, who has served as a coastal circulation specialist in
a five-year study of Penobscot Bay begun in 1996, says more
should be understood about Blue Hill Bays circulation before
more leases are granted.
The parties involved in the debate agree that the current rates
are low and that little is known about the bays circulation
patterns, but they disagree on whether that means finfish
aquaculture is unacceptable for Blue Hill Bay.
Officials from the Department of Marine Resources, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and Department of Environmental Protection say
they are concerned by the low current rates in the bay because
they may result in the buildup of waste under the pens, depleting
the biodiversity of the surrounding marine environment.
Reducing Footprint
They also agree that if site managers practice good
husbandry such as reducing the spillage of food pellets,
producing an acceptable number of fish and moving the pens around
within the lease sites the "footprint" on the sea floor could be
reduced.
Pettigrew is not convinced, saying that before the state grants
leases to companies wanting to farm finfish in Blue Hill Bay,
more research must be done on the flushing cycle between the bay
and the Gulf of Maine.
Pettigrew says he understands that the state monitors sites for
environmental impact, but he fears that if leases are granted,
the result will be that the state will be in the position of
having to close down the sites.
This, he says, would generate significant resistance from
companies, given their investment. The cost of Atlantic Salmons
28 proposed pens, barge and accessories off Long Island would
exceed $1.6 million, the application states.
Pettigrew says the currents may not be strong enough to
sufficiently disperse the spilled feed and fish waste falling
through the water column under the operation. This, he says,
could lead to the formation of bacterial mats and environmental
degradation of the sea floor community directly under the pens.
Such mats, he says, indicate a "complete loss of the macrofaunal
community" consisting of a variety of marine creatures, such as
crustaceans, fish, worms and anemones.
Serve as Caution
"We really dont understand much of anything concerning
circulation in Blue Hill Bay," Pettigrew says. "Im afraid,
frankly, we could have a problem."
This, he says, "should serve as a caution to slow down" the
process of granting permits for finfish farms in the bay.
Pettigrew says he is not opposed to aquaculture enterprises per
se, but simply wants them to be located in suitable sites. Blue
Hill Bays "very low currents," he says, suggest that the area is
not suitable for finfish farming.
John Sowles, a biologist and director of the Department of
Environmental Protections marine program, agrees with
Pettigrews claim that there is little understanding of the bays
circulation patterns and that the bays currents are slower than
at existing aquaculture sites.
Sowles says that his department judges aquaculture operations
solely on their impact on water quality and habitat. He says the
department is concerned about the potential environmental
impacts, but that it does not have a sound basis to deny the
proposals up front.
Sowles says the fine-grained silt and mud sediments off Long
Island suggest low current rates incapable of dispersing the fish
waste. Those found off Bartlett Island, he says, suggest a
"slightly better" location.
Classified Waters
The state legislature, he says, has classified Maines inland and
coastal waters to protect water quality and marine habitat. Blue
Hill Bay, Sowles says, is classified as an "all purpose" area, in
which the loss of any indigenous marine species is unacceptable.
Slow currents, shallow depths and inadequate husbandry can lead
to the build up of organic matter such as bacterial
mats resulting in the elimination of indigenous species. He says
that when and if a sites impact gets to this point, the DEP is
required by law to correct the situation.
"Most people know I am a firm promoter of aquaculture, but I hold
the line when it comes to environmental impact," Sowles says. "It
has a place on the coast, but we cant get so enthusiastic that
we forget about the natural resource [the marine environment]."
After hearing news a decade ago about "severe" environmental
impacts from finfish operations in Norway, British Columbia and
other areas of the world, Sowles says the department began to
conduct studies along the Downeast coast. Some sites, he says,
were found to impact the marine environment in an "unacceptable"
manner and were downsized or abandoned.
Unacceptable impact, he says, primarily means a resulting
formation of bacterial mats, dominance of one or two species and
the subsequent elimination of other sea life and the presence of
toxic hydrogen sulfide gas, not considered a danger to humans,
but rather to sea life including the very finfish being farmed,
he says.
When a Concern
Such activities, he says, do occur naturally on an occasional
basis without the presence of finfish farming. It is when the
evidence becomes more regular that it is of concern to the
department, he says.
Sowles says that finfish operations contribute "quite a load" of
nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, which when in
excess can lead to increased algal growth, in addition to the
bacterial mats. He says such enrichment can be beneficial as it
may also lead to increased numbers of fish until it begins to
dominate other sea life.
Jon Lewis, aquaculture specialist for the Department of Marine
Resources, agrees with the claim that the currents at the sites
have "very low" rates. Lewis says he has a concern about the
currents and that the Blue Hill Bay site reviews are the first in
which he has commented on current speed and sedimentation.
He reports that "periodic storm driven waves may substantially
increase the water velocity" at the sites, though the muddy
sediments on the bottom suggest otherwise.
Lewis says that, if approved, the Long Island site with a maximum
production of 10 million pounds of fish would be the largest site
in Maine.
"At 10 million pounds, I anticipate that that is a large load for
that site," Lewis says. Sowles agrees.
Impact Method Needed
Lewis says his department has discussed and recognized the need
for a method of looking at the cumulative impact of finfish
aquaculture proposals, but currently has nothing in place. Sowles
says his department has had similar discussions with no results
and that it is up to the legislature to implement a plan.
"Its a classic case of a lack of a long-term use plan for
coastal waters," Sowles says. "At some point were going to be
faced with having to do that."
Sowles says the waters belong to the state including its
residents and that no matter how unpopular it is, zoning will be
necessary. Right now, he says, it is a "free-for-all."
Lewis and Sowles say they are concerned about having a program in
place to monitor the cumulative effects of fish waste that has
been successfully flushed away from existing pen sites by
currents and wave activity and deposited elsewhere.
Sowles says that experience with existing sites shows that the
waste is often deposited in the vicinity of eddies or swirling
waters which collect the waste after being dispersed from the
pens. But because the the circulation of Blue Hill Bay is not
understood, the state does not know where to look for such
deposits when monitoring sites.
Compared to Norway
Bob Hukki, assistant farm manager for Atlantic Salmon of Maine,
says that the bays currents are sufficient and are comparable to
those around pen sites in Norway. He says environmental problems
have resulted at those sites in the past, but salmon farmers have
adjusted their techniques to reduce the impact.
When asked about the usage of container bags or "diapers" as they
are referred to in the industry to catch the spilled feed and
feces, Hukki says that such a technique has been tried elsewhere,
but that it just "moves the problem somewhere else."
Jay Clement, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, says the bags "work to a point," but that spillage can
occur.
Hukki says that the best ways to reduce the impact are to control
production and limit the amount of feed. Allowing the site to sit
fallow every other year, he says, would let the natural
biological activity such as the decay of waste and the ingestion
of spilled feed by sea life heal the environment.
Clement agrees with Hukki on this issue and says the corps can
include conditions on the lease to reduce the environmental
impact from spilled feed and fish waste.
The proposed sites in Blue Hill Bay have greater depths than
sites farther Downeast, which Clement says should allow for
better dispersion of spilled feed and waste.
Other Sites
Tidal ranges at sites farther east can be up to 22 feet Clement
says, or much larger than that of Blue Hill Bay, which he
estimated to be around 10 feet. This, he says, suggests better
flushing due to the movement of more water.
"There are valid concerns that have been raised about low
currents," Clement says. "Whether that is mitigated by the depth
and best management practices the company intends to employ has
yet to be determined."
Clement says that monitoring sometimes shows a "surge" in marine
life populations being fed by the spilled food. This, he says, is
called the "birdfeeder effect" of the pens. Sowles says such
bottom enrichment is good to a point, but if there is too much,
it will lead to a few dominant species. Clement agrees with
Sowles, saying a case could be made for the loss of biodiversity.
Hukki says he doesnt see spilled feed being an issue, but admits
feces from the salmon could be a problem without adequate
precautions.
The addition of waste from more than 1.3 million fish that would
be grown at the proposed Bartlett and Long Island lease sites,
Pettigrew says, would create a situation "very similar to a
sewage problem."
A multiyear study, completed in 1992 and funded by state and
federal money, determined that at a Toothachre Cove salmon pen
site off Swans Island, shows that bacterial mats develop due to
slow currents, but are flushed away by annual storm activity.
Clement says the study shows that the "long-term environmental
impacts" at that Toothachre Cove site have been "minimal," as
have been those at other sites in Maine. He says "the findings
made to date do not show significant environmental impacts."
(6) [MULTILINGUAL INFO CLEARINGHOUSE]
-- Back to the Table of Contents --
SUBJECT: Atlantic salmon at all-time low
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 18:45:05 -0400
From: Bill Mott
To: FishFarmRev
From today's Montreal Gazette:
________________________________________
Bill Mott, Coordinator
E-Mail Address: BillMott@compuserve.com
Organization: *Ocean Awareness Campaign* and *SeaWeb Salmon Aquaculture Clearinghouse*
________________________________________
East coast salmon reach all-time low
Montreal Gazette
May 31, 1999
St. John's, Nfld. - The number of large salmon of North American origin
has fallen to 80,000 on the east coast -- an all-time low, say
scientists with the world's leading research group on marine and
fisheries science. The International Council for the Exploration of the
Sea released the figures last week, prompting a conservation group to
call for a temporary ban on salmon fishing in the region. The Atlantic
Salmon Federation, which represents fisheries in Atlantic Canada,
Quebec, Maine and New Engand, says it will make the plea at the North
Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization conference in Ireland this
June. "Any harvest will jeopardize the very survival of the species,
especially in the rivers of Maine, where salmon are candidates for
listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act," said Bill Taylor,
federation president. Large salmon from North America have been in
steady decline since the mid-1970s, when they numbered 800,000. "The
80,000 is such a shocking figure," said federation spokesman Sue Scott.
"Action must be taken now to turn it around." She said threats to the
stock include overfishing with gill nets and industrial pollution. The
Atlantic salmon crisis first made headlines in 1997, when populations
dipped to half the spawning requirements. The large salmon are
predominantly females, which seed the rivers for future runs. The bulk
of remaining salmon runs are in Newfoundland and Labrador, said Taylor.
(7) [MULTILINGUAL INFO CLEARINGHOUSE]
-- Back to the Table of Contents --
SUBJECT: Salmon (and other fish) farming news from around the world...
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 09:09:19 -0400
From: Bill Mott
1) Aquatas invests in SEA System technology
2) BC salmon farming industry numbers
3) ISA confirmed in Shetlands
4) ISA a key issue in Ireland
5) International Aqua Foods' numbers up
6) Fish farming for pet food in Australia
________________________________________
Bill Mott, Coordinator
E-Mail Address: BillMott@compuserve.com
Organization: *Ocean Awareness Campaign* and *SeaWeb Salmon Aquaculture Clearinghouse*
________________________________________
1) From IntraFish:
Aquatas invests
Aquatas invests in new enclosed system technology for
salmon rearing.
Aquatas Pty. Ltd. and Future SEA Technologies Inc. has
announced the investment by Aquatas in SEA System technology.
05/28/99 07:00
The SEA System is an enclosed finfish rearing system.
Aquatas is a producer and exporter of salmon and ocean
trout based in Margate Tasmania, Australia. Future SEA is based in Nanaimo,
British Columbia, Canada.
2) Growth in B.C.
Statistics shows British Columbia (Canada) sales revenues
for 1998 of CAD $298 million, and increases in production and overall
economic activity in 1998:
05/27/99 07:00
B.C. produced 39,255 tonnes of fresh farmed salmon, up more than 20 per cent over 32,514 tonnes in 1997; and the industry's total
contribution to the B.C. economy was CAD $613 million in 1998, up more than 25 per cent over $487.8
million in 1997.
PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant Dave Egan said the B.C. industry's
increased production last year primarily served the growing U.S. market. B.C.
farmed salmon exports to the United States have risen from $107 million in 1996
to $172 million in 1998 (U.S. dollars). Egan also noted that the rapidly expanding
demand for farmed salmon fillets presents a significant opportunity for B.C. to
enhance its value-added processing industry.
3) ISA confirmed
The fish disease Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) is now confirmed on a
fish farm in the Burra region of Shetland, bringing the total of confirmed
sites in Shetland to two, the Scottish announced Tuesday
(25-5).
05/27/99 07:00
In addition, the disease is also now suspected on a site in Out Skerries, Shetland.
The infected farm, which was previously declared suspect on April 23, 1999.
This brings the total number of farms in Scotland which have been declared
infected to 11, of which five are now re-stocking after completing their
disinfection and fallowing. There are now 18 farms suspected of being infected
with the disease, of which eight have been cleared of fish.
4) ISA still an issue for Irish
The Infectious Salmon Anaemia disease (ISA) still remains one of the
key issues for the Irish salmon growers who spare no effort in trying to
keep it out of the country.
05/25/99 07:00
ISGA executive secretary, Richie Flynn, told SBR that they were planning a
review of the code of conduct ' very shortly' - in light of the accumulated
experiences of the disease in nearby Scotland. "A code like that is not set in
stone, its an organic document. We've got to review the Scottish reports,
because they've been involved in a very steep learning curve," he said.
Mr Flynn doesn't believe that the island's closeness to Scotland - and the
associated risk regarding to the potential of the disease being brought into the
country - creates a confidence crisis in the Irish industry. Private investors willing
to put funds into new aquaculture projects are not deterred, he says. "Nobody is
going to hold back on investments on the basis that they might get [ISA]. Every
business has its risks, and we're going to do our [very best] to ensure that ISA is
kept out [] ISA is certainly an issue, but we're ISA-free and we can remain so
if we keep vigilant."
The ISGA Secretary added that since the implementation of the new licensing
regime, the granting of new licenses had been 'tumbling' in. So far, since late
1998, about 90 licenses have been granted for aquaculture development (of
which ten or so are for salmon farming projects) - with a dozen having been
appealed to the licences' appeal board.
5) IAF expects increase
International Aqua Foods Ltd. announces its financial results for the 13
weeks ended April 3, 1999. Sales were $ 9,386,479, up 14.8 per cent
compared to last year. Gross margins were $ 800,572 ($1,040,799 in 1998)
05/24/99 07:00
As expected, the results reflect higher average sale prices, partially offset by
lower sales volume and higher costs as compared to the corresponding period in
1998. Sales volumes for the first quarter of 1999 decreased due to changes in the
harvest schedule at the Company's operations in Chile. Sales volumes for the
quarter were 2.3 million pounds as compared to 2.5 million pounds for the
corresponding period in 1998.
Farmed salmon consumption in the United States continues to remain strong and
first quarter industry average prices for eight to 12 pound farmed Atlantic salmon
were US $0.05 higher than last year. Since the end of the first quarter, average
farmed salmon prices in the U.S. have shown steady strengthening, increasing by
6% or US$0.13 per pound.
Based on current and planned inventory levels, the Company expects that harvest
volumes will continue to increase through the end of 1999 although the actual
amount of fish harvested will depend on salmon prices. IAF expects that overall
volumes for fiscal 1999 will increase by 13% given current market prices and
Company inventory levels.
6) FROM ENS:
Aquaculture Could Take Pet Food Pressure off
Wild Fish
MELBOURNE, Australia, May 27, 1999 (ENS) - Fish grown on fish
farms in rural Australia could be the pet food of the future, a
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO) briefing for Victorian politicians was told Wednesday.
Ian Thomas, research manager for Uncle Ben's Australia, told the
politicians that his company is considering alternatives to the supplies
of fish currently imported from Asia for petfood.
"Australian aquaculture may offer a potential solution through fish
farms where treated waste from the food industry is used to feed the
fish.
"We would need some 10,000 - 15,000 tonnes of finfish per year.
There is currently no aquaculture product in Australia that could
meet this requirement. We think there is an opportunity to
cost-effectively satisfy our consumers with fish grown in Australia,
ideally within a few hours of our factory at Wodonga, Victoria," said
Thomas.
"Fish protein is considered high quality for cats.
Pilchards and sardines for cat food are currently
imported from Thailand, the USA, and, until
recently, Australia. The cat food market in
Australia also has a lot of imported canned
pilchards manufactured in Thailand. This is simply
due to the cheap fish and labour when the
product is sourced. In the future we would prefer
to have these products sourced from Australia based on cheap, high
quality fish canned on high speed production lines in Victoria,"
Thomas explained.
Supported by Victoria's Strategic Industry Research Foundation
(SIRF), a research team is investigating the feasibility of producing,
cost-effectively, cultured omnivorous finfish for use in pet food, by
utilising some of the 30,000 tonnes of food industry by products in
Victoria.
The project team consists of Business Victoria, the Marine and
Freshwater Resources Institute, Deakin University Warrnambool
Campus, Uncle Ben's of Australia and other participants from the food
industry.
Dr. Peter Rothlisberg of CSIRO, told the briefing that Australian
aquaculture is entering a new era, one in which resource and
environmental concerns play a much larger role in public perception
and government and industry decision making.
Aquaculture is capturing a
growing share of the world's
fisheries.
(Graph courtesy World Aquaculture)
"If modern aquaculture is to survive it will have to become
more compatible with other
resource users and with the
natural environment.
Scientists can help resolve
issues of sustainable
aquaculture and environment
management by advising on
what is physically or biologically possible Decision makers, both
regulatory and industry, can then put thisinformation into a political
and economic context," Dr. Rothlisberg said.
Aquaculture is one of Australia's fastest growing primary industries.
According to the Australian Seafood Industry Council, the value of
production has doubled from A$158 million in 1988-89 to over A$449
million in 1996-97. It is predicted that this will increase rapidly and by
the year 2000 be valued at over A$600 million Aquaculture now
saccounts for over 20 percent of the total value of Australia's
fisheries production.
More than forty different species are farmed The more common
species include pearl oysters, tuna, salmon,edible oysters, prawns
and trout. Other species being farmed include eels, freshwater
crayfish, mussels, abalone, crocodiles, silver perch, barramundi and
algae.
Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved.
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