Fish farming near salmon rivers sparks debate

A request from 33 conservation groups from six countries for the salmon farming industry to remove fish farms from near wild salmon rivers is being called "wildly irresponsible" by the executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. The request for salmon farms to protect wild salmon populations was made after John Fredriksen, a major shareholder in Marine Harvest, made public comments that open net cage salmon farms should be at least 30 kilometres, or about 19 miles, away from wild salmon rivers.

Bill Taylor, president of the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), which has an office in St. Andrews and is an international, nonprofit organization that promotes the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon and their environment, comments, "Wild Atlantic salmon returns to 32 rivers flowing into the inner Bay of Fundy, located between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, declined from annual runs of 40,000 in the 1980s to fewer than 100 today. Canada has listed them under the Species at Risk Act. The salmon populations in Maine's Downeast rivers have been listed by the United States government as endangered. The declines coincide with the development of the aquaculture industry in both areas, and this is likely no coincidence. There is a comprehensive body of research proving negative impacts of salmon farming on wild salmon, including parasites, disease, and weakening of the wild gene pool when farmed salmon escape and interbreed with wild salmon."

However, Sebastian Belle, the director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, says ASF is showing "a shocking level of ignorance of the process," since federal and state regulatory agencies have conducted an extensive review of the risks, in listing the wild salmon in eight Maine rivers under the Endangered Species Act, and in the permitting process for salmon farms. "The legal fact is that we would not be allowed to operate if the risks were significant, because of the Endangered Species Act," says Belle. "The federal services do not view those risks as significant."

In Maine and New Brunswick, unlike in the fjords of Norway, salmon that are returning to rivers to spawn are only near salmon farms "for a very brief period." Belle adds, "The way we manage farms for parasites and disease is also very different."

Taylor of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, though, states, "In a resolution passed in 1994, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) agreed with Mr. Fredriksen, ASF and many other NGOs [non-governmental organizations] that salmon farms should be located 30 kilometres away from wild Atlantic salmon rivers. Despite this agreement, member countries of this international conservation body, such as Canada, the United States, Norway and Scotland, allowed salmon farms to develop near wild salmon rivers, and we can all see how this decision has wreaked havoc on wild populations. And governments continue to expand the industry in areas where wild salmon live, such as in Newfoundland, where the industry is being supported by government funds."

However, Belle is critical of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, because it knows that removing the salmon farms from near wild salmon rivers would eliminate the industry in eastern North America, with a devastating economic effect. However, the ASF has never proposed any alternative economic activity. If the ASF is serious about conservation, then it should not be seeking to eliminate the salmon farmers in Maine and New Brunswick who have "a long history of pioneering sustainable and progressive farming methods," Belle says.

Belle is also suspicious of the motivations of the Marine Harvest shareholder, noting that Marine Harvest, which is the largest aquaculture company in the world, has no investments in any farms on the east coast of North America. Its head office is in the Netherlands, and its operations in Chile, Norway and Scotland would have significant opportunity to locate farms away from salmon rivers, so Belle wonders if the company may be trying to hurt its competitors by increasing the barriers to salmon farming in areas where Marine Harvest has no investment.