Something Smells Fishy

Marion Nestle's food blog. Interesting and informative read. She has some books out too. I might give them a look.
http://www.foodpolitics.com/

A coalition against GM salmon. GM Salmon grow twice as fast as regular salmon. They can escape from their open ocean farms and outperform the native salmon.
"Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences notes that a release of just sixty GE salmon into a wild population of 60,000 would lead to the extinction of the wild population in less than 40 generations."
http://truefoodnow.org/2010/08/27/coalition-demands-fda-deny-approval-of-controversial-genetically-engineered-fish/

An article on Farmed Salmon and the dangers it poses to the Native Species.
"It takes about 2.4 pounds of wild fish to produce one pound of farmed salmon, according to Rosamond L. Naylor, an agricultural economist at Stanford's Center for Environmental Science and Policy."
"In Norway, parasites have so devastated wild fish that the government poisoned all aquatic life in dozens of rivers and streams in an effort to re-boot the ecological system."
"Collecting more than 700 baby pink salmon around farms, she found that 78% were covered with a fatal load of sea lice, which burrow into fish and feed on skin, mucous and blood. Juvenile salmon she netted farther from the farms were largely lice-free."
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-salmon9dec09,0,7675555,full.story


More about Farmed fish. Very detailed description on fish slaughter and brings up evidence that fish are intelligent and can feel pain. (Do not read while eating)
"The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and mammals."
"fish can also suffer from fear and anticipation of physical pain."
"Contaminants from ocean-based aquafarms (fish excrement, uneaten chemical-laden food, and swarms of parasites) spread to the surrounding ocean, and the rampant disease inside the cages is passed on to ocean fish in the area, in some cases increasing the incidence of sea lice 1,000-fold."
"Deformities and stress-related injuries are also a regular occurrence; on some farms, as many as 40 percent of the fish are blind"
http://fishinghurts.com/FishFeelPain.asp


Article discussing the rampant outbreak of sea lice in Salmon
"Sea lice can lower the fitness of salmon - and in some cases be lethal - as they create open lesions on the surface of the fish that compromises its ability to maintain its salt-water balance"
"Sea lice production from the farm we studied was four orders of magnitude - 30,000 times - higher than natural. These lice then spread out around the farm."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4391711.stm


Some info. on bycatch. See Criterion III. Still could use more.
"Bycatch, the unintentional take of non-targeted fishes and invertebrates, is a major concern in shrimp fisheries. The trawl method has great potential for unselective fishing. The UN FAO estimates that 35% of the world's incidental catch occurs in shrimp trawl fisheries [Alverson et al. 1994; Steiner 1996]—about 10 million metric tons per year."
"Worldwide, bycatch ratios for shrimp trawl fisheries range from about 3:1 to 15:1"
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_WarmwaterShrimpReport.pdf


I still want to find more information on the effects of bycatch to prove that fish farming is just as bad as catching wild fish. I'll conclude with some "Eating Animals" quotes. "Modern industrial Fishing lines can be as long as 75 miles--the same distance as from sea level to space."
"For every ten tuna, sharks, and other large predatory fish that were in oceans fifty to one hundred years ago only one is left"
145 different species of fish are killed in tuna nets.
"Imagine being served a plate of sushi. But this plate also holds all of the animals that were killed for your serving of sushi. The plate might have to be five feet across"