November 30, 2010Two new closed containment fish farms have sprung up in the east!
Sustainable Blue land-based fish farm just outside of Windsor, Ontario is raising North America’s first sustainably-grown European sea bass. Located on 22 hectares of woodland, the company has been operating for one year using nine tanks that can produce 60 to 100 metric tonnes of fish per year. The fish, raised without the use of chemicals or antibiotics, are now being sold to restaurants and hotels.
Visit Sustainable Blue online »
Local Ocean, a land-based fish farm in Hudson, N.Y., raises mostly sea bream in tanks located in an old factory as well as a greenhouse. The system uses local drinking water with salt from the Red Sea. Wastewater is then filtered and 70 per cent is recirculated back into the tanks. The company is currently harvesting about 4,000 pounds of fish per week that is sold in New York and Brooklyn grocery stores. Read more »
Duke University calls the FDA process concerning GM salmon inadequate
The journal Science
published an analysis this week concerning the FDA’s mechanism for approving genetically modified salmon. The “new animal drug application” (NADA), researchers concluded, “narrowly examines only the risks of each GM salmon compared with a non-GM salmon.” The analysis recommends that regulators look at the full scope of impacts, including major human health and environmental impacts to avoid unintended consequences. Read more »
Meanwhile, NGOs from Canada and the US are still hard at work looking at ways to stop the approval of GM salmon. To get involved, check out organizations like the Canadian Biotech Action Network (CBAN) or
Food and Water Watch in the US for ways you can help.
Groups form Atlantic aquaculture reform coalition on Canada’s east coast
The destructive environmental effects of net-cage aquaculture are mounting on the east coast and conservation groups have joined forces in a new coalition to demand effective regulation and protection of the marine environment.
Made up of east coast ENGOs, fishing organizations and some local residents, the group formed in response to the massive sea lice outbreaks in New Brunswick salmon cages, the resulting legal and illegal use of chemicals to treat sea lice and questions about the management of the aquaculture industry. Cooke Aquaculture has already lost 500,000 farmed salmon due to sea lice infestations that are as high as 200-300 lice per fish. As companies desperately try to find chemicals strong enough to deal with the sea lice outbreaks local groups are increasingly concerned about the impact of these chemicals on the lobster fishery and the marine environment.
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