Bad News about salmon

[Stathamender]

Wild salmon stocks hit 'lowest level' on record after disastrous season on Scotland's prime rivers: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/0 ... us-season/

[Olly]

I know - just come back from a long weekend in the Borders!

[Liphook]

The death knell for salmon angling has been ringing for decades now yet still the old salmon farming practices continue to pollute, infect and rape the high seas for fishmeal. It takes 5 tonnes of fishmeal to produce 1 tonne of farmed salmon. Mortality rates hover at around 40% in many sites in Scotland, yet the government continue to encourage it's expansion. No angler or naturalist should buy farmed salmon unless it's100% sustainable, organic and reared in self contained on-land recirculation units - none of which are possible currently. Stop buying it and it will have to disappear. 30 year rant over (for now)

[Olly]

You cannot buy rod caught salmon - illegal to sell them from many rivers.

Netting although reduced still occurs and fish can be sold.

If you don't eat farmed salmon it would be imported - wherever it comes from ALL Atlantic salmon are becoming rarer!

View the EA's data - Table 6:16 - Summary of Salmon Rod catch 2007 - 2017: And Table 6:17 for Sea Trout catches. England & Wales - river by river.

The fish meal is mainly from Chile's Pacific waters.

It also takes tonnes for fishing bait - boilies & pellets!!

No salmon to be retained on many many rivers and certainly not - before June!

[Liphook]

Given that our seas are one great circulatory system I don't think it matters where it's fished from - we are simply taking more out globally than is sustainable.
If everyone stops buying farmed salmon there will be no demand and the artificially proped up industry will collapse. Red or pink Pacific salmon is potentially sustainable but probably well undervalued as a food source whilst farmed Atlantic is perceived to be a high quality product

[Reedling]

Is it ok to eat tinned Pacific salmon from the supermarkets or is it a problem source as well?

[Liphook]

As far as I'm aware wild Pacific salmon are sustainably fished in Alaska with a strict federal control on fishing areas, timings and overall tonnage harvested. Other areas I can't comment on. I would hope that the small print on the cans would tell you more, but of course that's not usually the case! The key words should be wild and sustainable.

[Nigel Rainton]

Stop buying farmed salmon, buy out all the nets, scrap the sea based salmon farms, stop all angling for salmon and subsidise land based farms. The Scottish government won't do anything, too many vested interests.

"Farlows‏ - Join us here at Farlows on Thurs 16th May as we partner up with Patagonia for an in-store screening of their new film, ARTIFISHAL, which aims to cast light on the problems facing wild salmon and to help us find conservation solutions."

[Liphook]

Yet by their own figures the salmon farming industry only supports around 4000 jobs in Scotland. I've read that had they concentrated on the recreational value of salmon and sea trout it would be 14000 plus.....

[Stathamender]

Is it ok to eat tinned Pacific salmon from the supermarkets or is it a problem source as well?

Well, I wouldn't give you very much for Asda's future chances at the moment....