Atlantic Salmon Fishery
fish are friends, NOT FOOD!
Introduction
Why do we need Atlantic Salmon?
Atlantic Salmon consumption in the US increased nine times between 1987 and 1999, four times in Europe and doubled in Japan from 1997 to 2002. Salmon is a source of high protein and omega-3 acids, which are linked to a decrease in cardiovascular problems (www.fda.gov, 2010).
Impacts of Farmed and Atlantic Wild Salmon
A solution to save the Wild salmon was farmed salmon. In the 1980s, extensive aquaculture of wild Atlantic salmon began in efforts to efficiently produce more Atlantic salmon and preserve the wild ones. However, most salmon farms are offshore in open pens and often they escape and breed with wild salmon. The farmed salmon are genetically modified so it lowers the genetic base of the wild salmon. It makes wild salmon more prone to disease, reduces adaptability and generally threatens their likelihood to survive in the wild.
What are we currently doing to sustainably harvest Atlantic Salmon?
Governments have set up commissions and plans in order to restore salmon to the lakes, but the budgets have only went down since the 1980s. Citizens in Quebec and Eastern Canada are willing to pay tax dollars to support plans which are likely to accomplish bringing back salmon out of endangerment ("Gardner-Pinfold Report", 2012). There are bans on fishing for wild salmon in US states like Maine, where Atlantic Salmon has been declared endangered, or even extinct in most rivers.