4baja
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Registered: 9-4-2003
Location: morro bay ca
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so true!!
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Pescador
Ultra Nomad
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Location: Baja California Sur
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Fish farms are certainly not the answer. A quick check with the department of Fisheries in Canada can give volumes of information about fish farmed
salmon which is an environmental and economic disaster ( and I am not even a Greenie) . The main problem is that you have a high content of Uric acid
and feces in a very small area which creates lots of problems and then you have the problem of capturing and feeding the captive fish which effects
the fish endemic to that area and cuts seriously into their food supply. The boats that gather the smaller food fish cannot venture very far from the
pens that hold the captive fish so you end up with a situation where they strip the natural balance of baitfish.
But the idea is just stupid enough that I would expect to see it implemented.
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Russ
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Pescador is exactly right! The tenders seining bait for these captured/penned fish can destroy the whole local ecosystem and the waste turns the
bottom into a slug that my never recover. I don't know what the solution would be but penned fish farming is not it! I don't know about shrimp farming
or other inland fish type farms but have heard they also produce a huge amount of waste. 
[Edited on 3-20-2009 by Russ]
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Skipjack Joe
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Our local paper, the Chronicle, had a article recently that stated many of the baitfish populations around the world are plummeting. Why would this
happen, I thought, when people rarely consume baitfish. It turns out that these fish farms require lots of baitfish that are processed and fed to the
fish in pellet form.
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Sharksbaja
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If that ain't enuff.....
| Quote: | Originally posted by Pescador
Fish farms are certainly not the answer. A quick check with the department of Fisheries in Canada can give volumes of information about fish farmed
salmon which is an environmental and economic disaster ( and I am not even a Greenie) . The main problem is that you have a high content of Uric acid
and feces in a very small area which creates lots of problems and then you have the problem of capturing and feeding the captive fish which effects
the fish endemic to that area and cuts seriously into their food supply. The boats that gather the smaller food fish cannot venture very far from the
pens that hold the captive fish so you end up with a situation where they strip the natural balance of baitfish.
But the idea is just stupid enough that I would expect to see it implemented. |
The Norwegian Atlantic Salmon fish farms in BC Canada have unleashed a plague of different proportions.
Atlantic Salmon introduced into Puget sound and the Inland Passage have brought with them a type of sea lice that excretes an enzyme that is deadly
to developing oyster larvae.
This more recent problem created havoc for labs that raise them for aquaculture, a huge business in the PNW. While the problem was identified four
years ago the Canadian Govt was in denial and would not address the problem.
It was the lab owners who researched a fix for the problem which required retrofitting seawater intakes with special filters designed to screen the
harmful lice out.
Sea lice are being found on different salmon species in these areas as well.
Not only are the lab-reared larvae dying but also wild strains of oysters as well.
As a result, the oyster industry lost 2-3 years worth of larvae production. It has already increased the price of farmed oysters 15-20% and we
haven't even experienced the physical shortage yet.
The introduction of non-native species comes at a high price.
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Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Don Alley
Super Nomad
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Registered: 12-4-2003
Location: Loreto
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Our local paper, the Chronicle, had a article recently that stated many of the baitfish populations around the world are plummeting. Why would this
happen, I thought, when people rarely consume baitfish. It turns out that these fish farms require lots of baitfish that are processed and fed to the
fish in pellet form. |
Baitfish can be used for "reduction fisheries." The fish are processed for omega-3 fish oil for humans, and for animal feed, not only for farmed fish
but also swine and poultry. They are also useful for fertilizers. There is such a controversial fishery on the east coast taking menhaden, an
important forage baitfish. And on the west coast, I believe some of the anchovy harvest has been for reduction fisheries. I'm guessing that some of
the boats reported netting baitfish near Mulege are processing the catch into fish oil and feeds.
All sources of protein have potential economic value to agri/aqua business.
So called fish farming is more like fish ranching, where the commons (range land, or, in this case, the oceans) are abused and exploited with no
regard for wildlife sharing those common areas. It is every bit as extractive as any other type of commercial over-exploitation, with the addition of
increased disease and pollution. But it sounds good-"fish farming"-so I think we'll see more of it.
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Pescador
Ultra Nomad
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Location: Baja California Sur
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Just remember all those rabbits in Australia. How slowly we learn.
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