Salmon Update: CAFO Conditions, Mass Die-Offs, Manufactured Risks and License Renewals

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Scientists at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden recently concluded that some farmed salmon die from depression. This may not be too surprising, given the conditions in which they are kept. In other recent research, a team of US and Canadian scientists has charted an ominous trend: mass die-offs of farmed salmon are increasing in both frequency and scale. Some observers question whether the industry, after decades of growth, may be past its peak and about to decline.

Meanwhile, DFO suggests that salmon farming licenses should be renewed this summer for six years rather than the current standard term of two years — only five years after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to shut down net-pen salmon farming in BC altogether by 2025.

The Swedish team made the most extensive study to date of what the industry calls “drop out” fish — salmon which fail to thrive and then die early. Their research found high levels of cortisol and other serotonergic symptoms in the dead fish, markers typical of high anxiety and stress.

Humans facing poverty and other socioeconomic hardships are more likely to be diagnosed with depression and mental illness. It appears unnatural and stressful environments can have a similar influence on farm-raised fish.

Farm-raised salmon and other fish live in crowded tanks where they must tolerate the presence of aggressive fish and battle for food. They must also endure sporadic changes in lighting, water depth, currents and more.

“Farmed fish live in a very stressful environment, since the conditions in aquaculture farms are extremely different from what they have evolved to cope with in the wild,” Vindas said.

—- Farm-raised salmon suffer from depression, UPI — May 2016
CAFO conditions are stressful for any organism; salmon, though they are fish rather than poultry, pigs, or cattle, apparently suffer comparable levels of misery and disease from their unnatural confinement.

What is CAFO? The acronym stands for “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation,” or what is commonly called a “feedlot” in the beef industry. It’s any animal husbandry operation at factory scale, in which animals are kept in densely concentrated confinement and fed a tailored diet with a view to (a) maximising meat production per facility square foot and (b) minimising time to market. What the industry calls “salmon farms” far more resemble “salmon feedlots.” While “farm” suggests bucolic imagery of happy cattle in green fields, a feedlot is quite another matter — or in our case, quite another kettle of unhappy fish.