A study appearing in the December 14 issue of the journal Science
shows, for the first time, that parasitic sea lice infestations caused
by salmon farms are driving nearby populations of wild salmon toward
extinction. The results show that the affected pink salmon populations
have been rapidly declining for four years. The scientists expect a
99% collapse in another four years, or two salmon generations, if the
infestations continue.

"The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon
populations is threatened," says lead author Martin Krkosek, a
fisheries ecologist from the University of Alberta. Krkosek and his co-
authors calculate that sea lice have killed more than 80% of the
annual pink salmon returns to British Columbia's Broughton
Archipelago. "If nothing changes, we are going to lose these fish."

Previous peer-reviewed papers by Krkosek and others showed that sea
lice from fish farms can infect and kill juvenile wild salmon. This,
however, is the first study to examine the population-level effects on
the wild salmon stocks. Things don't look good out there for wild-
caught salmon. And as you know, Salmon that are wild-caught are much,
much healthier food.

According to experts, the study also raises serious concerns about
large-scale proposals for net pen aquaculture of other species and the
potential for pathogen transfer to wild populations. Nowhere is this
more visible than in China, where a probing New York Times article
today describes the total mess that China is making of its environment
due to fish farms that are set up to send this "food" to the USA and
other countries. Here's a brief clipping of that commentary: [Begin
quote from NY Times]

"Here in southern China, beneath the looming mountains of Fujian
Province, lie dozens of enormous ponds filled with murky brown water
and teeming with eels, shrimp and tilapia, much of it destined for
markets in Japan and the West.

Fuqing is No. 1 on a list for refused seafood shipments from China. It
is one of the centers of a booming industry that over two decades has
transformed this country into the biggest producer and exporter of
seafood in the world, and the fastest-growing supplier to the United
States.

But that growth is threatened by the two most glaring environmental
weaknesses in China: acute water shortages and water supplies
contaminated by sewage, industrial waste and agricultural runoff that
includes pesticides. The fish farms, in turn, are discharging
wastewater that further pollutes the water supply.

"Our waters here are filthy," said Ye Chao, an eel and shrimp farmer
who has 20 giant ponds in western Fuqing. "There are simply too many
aquaculture farms in this area. They're all discharging water here,
fouling up other farms."

Farmers have coped with the toxic waters by mixing illegal veterinary
drugs and pesticides into fish feed, which helps keep their stocks
alive yet leaves poisonous and carcinogenic residues in seafood,
posing health threats to consumers. [End quote from NY Times]

It appears that this tremendous environmental degradation on the other
side of the world has become a food safety problem for us in the USA,
and scientists say the long-term risks of consuming contaminated
seafood could lead to higher rates of cancer and liver disease and
other afflictions. It is time to stop this nonsense. The only one who
can stop it is the consumer. Insist on wild-caught fish.

Dave

Full text article above extracted from http://shamvswham.blogspot.com/