A Dangerous Truth About Salmon Farming: Where Does the Madness End?
 |
| Tavish Campbell and some very questionable bright red liquid, Brown's Bay, British Columbia. (Courtesy of Tavish Campbell) |
Having touched on the global controversial issue of salmon farming some weeks ago and more recently delved into the contaminated depths of polluted freshwaters, it is critical that I bring to your attention the recent dives underwater videographer Tavish Campbell has subjected himself to -
Campbell filmed the effluent pipe of a farmed salmon processing plant of Cermaq Canada, on the coast of British Columbia and documented the raw, untreated blood belonging to thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon processed at the plant, being pumped directly into the largest migration route of wild salmon on the BC coast. A third of all of British Columbia's wild salmon swim passed this site at Brown's Bay, Discovery Islands. Samples were collected and tested positive for the newly discovered Piscine Reovirus (PRV) and Piscirickettsia salmonis bacteria, which causes the severe disease piscirickettsiosis. PRV is highly contagious and has been linked to high mortality rates due to heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) which results in abnormal swimming behaviour and anorexia. PRV and Piscirickettsia salmonis are feared to be passed onto wild salmon stocks.
"As I approached the outfall pipe and my lights illuminated the bloody water, I think I just about choked on my regulator." - Tavish Campbell
The footage can be seen best on Tavish's Instagram, @tavishcampbell, but if you don't have Instagram, do not fret (!) you can still see the gory footage of billowing red blood, seen on news channels: here, here and here.
How can huge environmental NGOs, governmental environmental agencies or international legal bodies hear the outrage of local people but sit idle as infectious and dangerous effluent is literally just pumped right into the heart of nature - simply because there are no specific regulations in place under the federal Fisheries Act, regarding such effluent from fish processing plants? Brown's Bay processing plant had not been inspected since 2013 and often the permits such plants operate under (BC wide) were designated decades ago.
I, for one, am very curious to see how long it takes Environment Canada to put an end to such an outrageous act against nature.
Thanks for highlighting this Ead. Scary as it is, we need to stay alert
ReplyDeleteExactly Chris, we can so easily become complacent once we reach a point where we feel we are doing something to help the planet - e.g. not using straws or plastic bags anymore etc. - but the fight doesn't end there...
DeleteWhat do you think is the root of the lack of political will to deal with these issues related to animal agriculture?
ReplyDeleteThe sheer number of zeros on the bottom line of commercial agriculture perhaps...? The ease with which quick, cheap and dirty "food" can be produced without uproar from consumers..? It usually boils down to stacks of green paper at the end of the day, so I would say as long as not enough outrage exists to affect profits then the political will simply won't be strong enough to make a change.
DeleteOk so that blood is shockingly nasty. I also saw a harrowing National Geographic Instagram post a few weeks ago about the prodigious infestations of sea lice which salmon aquaculture produces.
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is that demand is so powerful: salmon was a rare luxury in people's kitchens only 40 years ago. Now it's everywhere: cheap tesco sushi, the ubiquitous "fish option" in restaurants, meal deal sandwhiches. It's become a mindless, mundane option, where once it was something special to have on occasion. It breaks my heart that so many other far more sustainable types of fish and seafood should be overlooked- like mackerel, catfish (the bangazius family is one of the most energy efficient sources of protein), bivalves.
Humans have never thought much of fish. We afford them no basic rights whatsoever. This kind of activity goes on unnoticed because so few people care, and in the end we poison the oceans and poison ourselves. I hope these visceral images are shocking enough to effect at least a small change in perception and practice, but the most baffling and likely outcome is that they won't. Thank you for sharing this story, I will do what little I can by passing it on.
ReplyDelete