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The vast majority of salmon is farmed, so sustainable in the sense that it isn't going to diminish wild stocks. There are arguments against open-pen aquaculture

The vast majority of salmon is farmed, so sustainable in the sense that it isn't going to diminish wild stocks. There are arguments against open-pen aquaculture too of course, but it's all relative. And a lot of money is being spent on solving those issues, such as deep sea aquaculture (where the effluent isn't a big problem, compared to static coastal pens), closed-containment (where all waste can be collected and used to make fertilizer), and land-based aquaculture (personally, I really don't like this).

chriskanan 6y ago
Farmed fish isn't necessarily sustainable. It depends on the species. For some species, e.g., eel, they are farm raised but they are wild caught when young. For eel, we have not been able to get them to lay eggs that could be hatched and they take 10-25 years to reach sexual maturity [0]. Eels are not doing very well at all. Moreover, farmed fish are often fed wild fish, so that could have some strong negative impact on ecosystems. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_life_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_life_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_fish_feed#Sustainability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_fish_feed#Sustain... https://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/cooking/The-facts-about-farmed-salmon-you-wish-you-didn-t-know_166193900/ https://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/cooking/The-facts...
- GordonS 6y ago
  I'm (very) familiar with salmon aquaculture, but know very little about other species. As far as salmon go, there has been a huge push to reduce wild catch content in feed, replacing it things like soya. I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, but I recall being impressed - if you're interested, you can search for the latest MOWI annual report (think they call it a "sustainability report"), and Norwegian ministries publish a wealth of information.
  - pvaldes 6y ago
    The problem is that carnivore fishes are tasty, and vegetarian fishes... not so much. You can't just replace all their food by plant stuff and expect a good growth. 5-10% of soy, maybe, I' don't remember the exact value, but > 50%... No way. Fishes get ill and growth is stunted. It promotes cannibalism also. Premium fish food for aquaculture is expensive.
- pvaldes 6y ago
  It depends on the species, but you have some options at least.

chriskanan 6y ago

Farmed fish isn't necessarily sustainable. It depends on the species. For some species, e.g., eel, they are farm raised but they are wild caught when young. For eel, we have not been able to get them to lay eggs that could be hatched and they take 10-25 years to reach sexual maturity [0]. Eels are not doing very well at all. Moreover, farmed fish are often fed wild fish, so that could have some strong negative impact on ecosystems. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_life_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_life_history https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_fish_feed#Sustainability https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_fish_feed#Sustain... https://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/cooking/The-facts-about-farmed-salmon-you-wish-you-didn-t-know_166193900/ https://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/food/cooking/The-facts...

GordonS 6y ago
I'm (very) familiar with salmon aquaculture, but know very little about other species. As far as salmon go, there has been a huge push to reduce wild catch content in feed, replacing it things like soya. I don't have the numbers off the top of my head, but I recall being impressed - if you're interested, you can search for the latest MOWI annual report (think they call it a "sustainability report"), and Norwegian ministries publish a wealth of information.
- pvaldes 6y ago
  The problem is that carnivore fishes are tasty, and vegetarian fishes... not so much. You can't just replace all their food by plant stuff and expect a good growth. 5-10% of soy, maybe, I' don't remember the exact value, but > 50%... No way. Fishes get ill and growth is stunted. It promotes cannibalism also. Premium fish food for aquaculture is expensive.
pvaldes 6y ago
It depends on the species, but you have some options at least.