Wild salmon at risk from the two million that got away
from Sunday Herald, 03 December 2006
Nearly two million salmon have escaped from fish farms in Scotland over the last six years, threatening wild salmon with chemical and genetic pollution.
The pollution could be tipping the king of fish into an "extinction vortex" from which it may never be able to recover, say environmentalists and anglers. They are demanding a "fundamental rethink".
New figures released by the Scottish Executive in response to a request under freedom of information legislation reveal that there have been 93 escape incidents recorded at fish farms between 2001 and October 2006 (see table below).
By far the highest number of escapes occurred last year, when the total topped a million, including 125,000 found dead. Damage caused by violent storms on 11 January 2005 enabled nearly 850,000 salmon to swim free from their cages in the Western Isles, the Highlands and Orkney.
Other major escapes occurred in Shetland, with 238,420 fish escaping from a single farm on Christmas Eve 2002, and 130,000 found dead on 9 February 2006. So far this year there have been 21 incidents, including two in Strathclyde in July and August for which the number of escaped fish is not known.
The figures show that of the 1.9 million fish which have escaped since 2001, less than 2,000 were recaptured. Some fishing experts believe that the real number of escapees may be even higher, as some incidents may not have been reported.
The Executive's figures also show six incidents in which nearly 80,000 escaping fish had been recently treated with pesticides. Environmental groups fear this could lead to the spread of toxic pollution.
"Escapes are spiralling out of control and precipitating what scientists term an 'extinction vortex' in wild salmon," said Don Staniford, European Representative for the Pure Salmon Campaign.
"The flood of escapees from salmon farms – estimated at 3 million per year globally - is effectively killing off wild salmon. As well as spreading genetic pollution, escapees have the capacity to spread chemical pollution."
Escaped farmed salmon can breed with their wild relatives. They produce offspring which are genetically deficient and unable to survive the long migration across the Atlantic.
Staniford pointed out that replacing open net cages with closed containment systems could greatly reduce the number of escapes. "The tagging of farmed salmon would identify those responsible so that companies could be fined and sanctions levied against persistent offenders," he argued.
He urged salmon farmers to "come clean" on escapes. At the moment, fish farms which have suffered escapes are not named, despite a ruling that they should be by the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion.
According to the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland, in fish farming areas there are ten escaped salmon for every wild salmon returning from the ocean. The juveniles produced by interbreeding are ruining the centuries-old genetic purity of the wild stock.
"By crossbreeding the escapees will have eliminated the stock with the capacity for marine survival," said the Trusts' chairman, Roger Brook. "Rivers infected with escapees over a succession of seasons will have completely lost their wild stock."
John Webster, technical director of the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation, accepted that the number of escaped salmon was high, but argued that the "vast majority" failed to survive in the wild. Interbreeding with wild fish was "not a good thing", he said.
Escapes were not in farmers' commercial interests and great efforts were being made to reduce them, he said. "There will be losses from cages, but we need to get better and better at preventing them."
The Scottish Executive pointed out that the number of fish farm escapes fell between 2002 and 2004, before the "anomalies" caused by the January 2005 storms. "This demonstrates progress but we want to ensure that an overall downward trend continues," said an Executive spokeswoman.
"We recognise the concerns about escaped farmed fish interbreeding with wild stocks and that any risk of interbreeding should be reduced to an absolute minimum."
THE ONES THAT GOT AWAYyear / number of fish escaping / number of incidents
2006 / 240,076 (incomplete) / 21
2005 / 1,002,883 / 24
2004 / 90,594 / 14
2003 / 151,853/ 14
2002 / 309,996/ 8
2001 / 89, 996 / 12TOTALS / 1,885,398 / 93
Source: Scottish Executive
Download a copy of the escape figures released by the Scottish Executive here.
It looks like a person could spend 24/7 for years reading all of the stuff on Salmon.
These two articles should give you an idea that you just have to use your own judgement. Maybe get a test or something.
It is mind bogggeling. mom
Posted by: Marty | 05 May 2007 at 09:25 PM