Proposed organic salmon farm in Galway Bay
Following
queries from members and other interested parties, Galway Slow Food Convivium
has studied the proposal to site a huge organic salmon farm in Galway Bay and
is concerned about the adverse effects such a development could have.
The convivium
is fully in favour of establishing a sustainable aquaculture sector and feels
that there is huge potential for the region to develop such an industry given
the clean water and resources available on the west coast. However, it is of
the utmost importance that any such development is approached with care for the
environment and existing fishing and tourism interests.
Having
regard to the Seven Pillars of Slow Food, the Convivium Committee has studied
the proposal at length, examined the environmental impact assessment prepared
by BIM and attended consultations with all interested parties involved.
Over the
last forty years intensive culture of finned-fish species such as salmonhas
been carried out using open-cage systems in fjords (Norway), in sea-loch
(Scotland) relatively sheltered bays (West of Ireland) availing of the
perceived endless supply of clean, coastal waters. Research into alternative closed land-based
units has led to the establishment of some units in Norway and British
Columbia. However, open sea cage systems
are still being constructed.
Why the concern?
Open cage
fish farming imposes a series of specific pressures on:
(a)
The immediate marine environment
(b)
The local wild salmon population
(c)
The local seatrout population and its associated
angling tourism
(d)
The international fish populations and the
biodiversity of oceanic food chains
(e)
The existing tourist industry and its associated
employment in the region.
The immediate marine environment:
The siting
of fish farms must cause minimal disturbance to the local ecosystem ie. They
must be located in deep water, in areas of high water flushing, away from
existing salmon runs and away from vulnerable or protected species or habitat
such as maerl produced by coralline algae.
The proposed site of the Galway salmon farm causes concern on almost all
these aspects.
Open cage
farming naturally results in the production of faecal and waste food matter
which deposits as a fine sediment under the cages in poor water flushing
conditions. This particulate sediment
can physically clog the gills of sedentary and pelagic marine organisms and additionally,
this nutrient rich sediment places enormous oxygen demands on the surrounding
seawater. These altered environmental
conditions lead to degradation of the habitat and could even lead to the
development of harmful algal blooms. The
sheer volume of waste matter from large open sea farms defies the principle of
environmentally responsible food production – the second basic tenet of the
Slow Food Principle – the “Clean” of the Good, Clean and Fair ethos.
In some open
cage farms, anti-fouling treatment of nets and cage structures involve the use
of chemical anti-foulants, generally copper based. These are a further assault on the local
ecosystem and responsible management would and should include physical
non-chemical anti-fouling practices.
The local wild salmon population
The siting
of a densely stocked salmon farm closer than the well acknowledged and advised
limit of 20km to adjacent established salmon rivers and sea runs will lead to
negative effects on the local salmon
population.
Sea-lice are naturally occurring
crustacean organisms that attach to the soft tissues near the dorsal and caudal
fins of salmonid fish. A mere 12
specimens on a smolt can cause mortality. It stands to reason that the more
hosts (farm fish) available, the more the infection of parasites. Farmed fish are treated externally or are
given medication in their food to deal with the problem but the local fish
become infected. Treatment involves the
use of emamectin benzoate (Slice®) among other pesticides that are particularly
toxic to lower level organisms. Regulation
of parasite treatment and its frequency has been a contentious issue in
established fish farms not only in Ireland but in fish farms on a worldwide
basis. In spite of this, the most
eminent scientists in the field hold wildly divergent views on the possible
impact of such a huge scale fish farm on wild salmon stocks.
Research has
been carried out on salmon smolts migrating through aquaculture bays in the
west of Ireland. Some were pre-treated
for sea lice and others were not. The
results showed that the rate of return as adults one year later was almost
double for those that were pre-treated versus the non-treated smolts. It proves that treatment works but it is unfeasible
in wild populations and not desirable from an organic point of view in farmed
fish.The presence of pesticide residues in farmed salmon causes much concern on
an international level.
Escapes from salmon farms are
inevitable. Atlantic salmon have long beguiled the angling and wildlife confraternity
with their ability to seek out the stream where they were spawned. This behaviour is part of the genetic imprint
of the wild stock. Poor cage management,
storms and predation are factors which can lead to escapes. Because wild Atlantic salmon have a different
genetic composition from the farmed
genetically engineered strain of
Norwegian origininterbreeding of native
stock with escapees in our short coastal streams will lead to a dilution of the
native gene pool. This will lower their
innate resilience to the stress of their oceanic travels and interfere with millions
of years of evolutionary behaviour that exists in the native stock. Loss of
adaptability could lead to loss of species.
Disease
Disease is a
consequence of industrial farming and currently there are two serious diseases
rampant in the fish farming industry. One, infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is a
virus that causes severe anaemia in salmon and the fish eventually die. Amoebic gill disease is caused by a rise in
water temperature and overcrowding in fish cages and this disease which
originated in New Zealand has now reached Ireland, shutting down fish farms.
Infected fish have to be destroyed on site and this could potentially wipe out
fish farms and cause an environmental disaster.
The local sea-trout populationand its
associated angling tourism
As a
co-salmonid, if a native sea-trout population comes into contact with farmed
salmon, they will readily become infected with sealice as described above. Anglers in the West of Ireland have proof of
the collapse of the sea trout fishery in the 80’s and early 90’s – a disaster
that coincided with the opening of coastal salmon farms in the Connemara
region. Apart from the biological disaster,
the effect of this collapse was felt widely in the angling tourism business
that this fishery supported.
Angling
related tourism is an important industry in the Galway area employing a
considerable number of people during the season. If wild salmon and sea trout
stocks are decimated this industry will collapse. Tourism is the lifeblood of
Inis Oirr beside which one half of the proposed fish farm will be located.
There are serious concerns on the island about its impact on the tourist
industry.
The numbers
of potential jobs quoted by BIM on a fish farm of such dimensions and
production levels are at variance with standards in comparable salmon farms in
Scotland and Norway and in fact, could well lead to the loss of jobs in the
angling related tourism so important to the West of Ireland.
The international fish populations and the
biodiversity of oceanic food chains or when fish is turned into feed
As recently
as the 14th May, the process of turning huge quantities of wild fish
into feed for farmed fish and other animals was discussed at Slow Fish Genoa ,
2013. The conversion of one form of high quality protein into a more expensive
form at such a high cost questions the rationale of this form of fish
production.
The near
collapse of the Peruvian Anchovy Fishery in the 1990s was highlighted by
Patricia Majluf of Cayetano Heredia University in Peru. The collapse of the
fishery led to its ecological and social degradation. The International
Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organisation (IFFO) disparagingly described the anchovy
as a small, bony and oily fish with little or no demand for human consumption. They
justified their capture on an immense scale for fishmeal and oil production. Luckily in 2006, the CH University launched
an “Eat Anchoveta Campaign” to promote human consumption and a sustainable
approach to the fishery of this tasty, delicious, cheap and nutritious fish. Why
should this valuable resource be converted into fishmeal which has a “feed
conversion ratio” higher than that of wild salmon but at what cost to the
environment?
On a global
scale, the destruction of a species close to the bottom of the world’s most
productive food chain – the oceanic upwelling system- amount to high seas
treachery and environmental destruction.
Michèle Mesmain,
Slow Food Int., has said “The efficient
way to supply much needed protein is to fish at levels that have low
environmental impact. It is always better, more equitable and more sustainable
to use fish, our last great wild food for people instead of feed.” This belief
has also been aired by Prof. Daniel Pauly, University of British Columbia who
states that humans should be eating the wild fish stocks instead of farmed
salmon when he was discussing the role of certain form of aquaculture in
reducing pressure on wild stocks of fish.
Organic Status
Salmon
farming, as it is currently practiced, does not meet with the key organic
principle of sustainable production.
While it was
originally believed that fish feed for organic farms would be (a) trimmings and fish from certified
sustainable fisheries with full traceability or (b) trimmings from human
consumption fisheries supplemented with certified responsible feed from a
sustainable source, it was hoped that there would be an increased substitution
of marine proteins with vegetable alternatives. However, the MCS states that no
feed grade fisheries have been certified as sustainable. They emphasise that
removing wild capture organisms and small fish from the ecosystem has severe
adverse ecosystem effects. The provision of organic status to a product which
has such suspect sustainability status is incredible. In fact the organic certification of salmon
farms is even controversial within the organic movement itself.
Sustainable alternatives
We feel that
Ireland could and should be a leader in aquaculture development
internationally. Currently there is a move in other major fish farming
countries such as Scotland, Norway and Canada to land based fish farms where
conditions and effluent can be monitored and dealt with and there is no
endangerment of wild fish stocks. Scotland is setting up the world's largest
on-shore salmon farm to supply high end clients like Marks and Spencer and
Selfridges. There are also on-shore farms being established in Norway and
Canada. BIM has rejected this approach as being too expensive but if they are
successful abroad there is no reason why they shouldn't work here.However, on
the down side, new environmental problems may arise, problems associated with
energy and water consumption.
There is
also potential to create long term sustainable jobs in oyster and shell fish
production by ensuring our coastal waters are clean and unpolluted.
As is stated
by Slow Food International’s Slow Fish section “All too often, intensive fish
farms have a negative social and
environmental impact. Fish farming must return to less intensive and more responsible methods that respect local
ecosystems.”
The “blue
revolution” as the growth of aquaculture is sometimes termed, must become green. Ideally it should have local
ecological sustainability, a low carbon footprint and be healthy and
nutritious. (Slow Fish – Well farmed ;
2013)
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