When you hear “factory farm” you probably think cows and pigs and chickens.
But there’s another type of factory farm, one that pollutes our oceans and produces one of the most toxic foods in the world: industrial ocean fish farms.
Industrial fish farms endanger human health and the environment. Yet their numbers are growing, to meet the growing demand for salmon, in both grocery stores and restaurants.
But here’s the irony: Consumers want more salmon because we’ve been told that it’s a healthy choice. It is—but only if the salmon (and this holds true for other fish) is “wild caught,” meaning it was fished from its natural habitat, where it fed on natural organisms.
That’s not the case with farmed fish, which is raised on a diet of processed, high-fat, high-protein feed that can include everything from GMO soybeans and pesticides, to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins, to antibiotics.
One study found 13 persistent organic pollutants in farmed salmon, and PCB levels on average eight times higher in farmed salmon compared with wild salmon.
In addition to producing a toxic food product, industrial fish farms also pose a host of threats to the environment. As Friends of the Earth reports:
Factory fish farming allows for the free discharge of excess feed, feces, antibiotics, and chemicals into the water, which causes algal blooms and dead zones. The massive amount of fish in one space can attract and harm wildlife, which get entangled in farm nets, harassed by acoustic deterrents, or hunted by larger species.
Despite the human and environmental health hazards associated with industrial fish farms, the Trump administration is pushing for aggressive expansion of this dirty industry.
Fortunately, Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) has introduced the “Keep Fin Fish Free Act,” a bill that would place a moratorium on granting commercial permits for industrial fish farms in federally controlled ocean waters.