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Like many other recreational fishermen, I thought that the advent of aqua cultured salmon would be the savior of Atlantic salmon, whose spawning stock numbers have been on the decline for many years. Little did we understand that at-sea pen raising of salmon would be one of the biggest detriments to the wild population. In the state of Maine, a population that is listed as endangered.
I became acquainted with and a supporter of Aqua Bounty from its inception. . .
The real benefits go far beyond what I originally envisioned. . .Currently, at-sea culture requires chemical pesticide treatment for controlling sea lice. It also requires a large amount of antibiotics. In some instances, this is used at a staggeringly high rate.
The inland tank-raised product will not have to be treated as the environment is highly controlled and cleaned with a microscopic filtering system.
The at-sea pen raised salmon have had a very high incidence of Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA). This is highly contagious and has been transmitted to wild salmon. . . There is no chance of that with inland tank-raised fish.
This does not even get to another serious problem, the complete degradation and destruction of the benthic habitat under the at-sea pens. . . .
The bottom line is that aqua cultured fish is here to stay, but we have to do it in a way that is economically sustainable and environmentally compatible. At-sea pen raising of Atlantic salmon is not the answer. For this product, inland shore based tank aquaculture is an answer. Having a fast growing product such as AquAdvantage salmon will make the shore-based culture more successful and safer for the coastal and estuarine environments.
Read full, original post: Is GMO Necessarily Bad?
