Do I Recommend Norwegian Salmon?

Do I Recommend Norwegian Salmon? 

Subscribe to my channel: https://goo.gl/cl7awD

How To Avoid Parasites in Seafood

How To Avoid Parasites in Seafood 

Subscribe to my channel: https://goo.gl/cl7awD

Here is Exactly How a Salmon Farm and Celebrity Chef Con You On Farmed Salmon

Here is Exactly How a Salmon Farm and Celebrity Chef Con You On Farmed Salmon 

Subscribe to my channel: https://goo.gl/cl7awD

Sea Shepherd, Pamela Anderson Team Up to Investigate Salmon Farming Industry

By Katie Pohlman

Farmed salmon is an industry shrouded in secrecy, producing more questions than answers and threatening the native salmon population, according to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Operation Virus Hunter.

Sea Shepherd along with biologist Alexandra Morton and actor/activist Pamela Anderson—Sea Shepherd's board chairman—are behind the new campaign to investigate the lawfulness of salmon farming. Morton, as part of the campaign, will travel around Vancouver on Sea Shepherd's R/V Martin Sheen tracing the major salmon migration route, and stopping at various farms to conduct audits for disease and other factors.

"The salmon farming industry thrives on secrecy, shrouding its activities from public view," Morton said. "Operation Virus Hunter will shine a bright spotlight on this industry. Canada cannot claim it is protecting the oceans, including wild salmon, while at the same time, allowing the farmed salmon industry to release waste into the world's largest salmon migration route."

Morton said the audits with be non-aggressive and non-harassing.

"Ninety-four Nations of the Fraser River view wild salmon as being essential to who they are, and they have worked to conserve those stocks for thousands of years," First Nations Leader Chief Ernie Crey said. "The recent salmon declines are a threat to our existence and we hold salmon farms as one of the culprits. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans chooses foreign salmon famers over our title and rights again and again. We ask wild salmon be allowed to come and go to this river free from infection with farm salmon disease."

Farmed salmon comes from a hatchery stock lacking genetic variation. Often, farmed salmon are released into the wild as part of restocking programs hoping to reduce the impacts of overfishing wild salmon. Salmon can also escape into the wild due to faulty containment cages at farms. The intentional and unintentional release of farmed salmon in the wild is one of the main reasons Atlantic salmon has been drive to effective extinction.

Genetic erosion, which occurs when there is no diversity, is another consequence of the release of farmed salmon. Without diversity, a species cannot adapt to new environments or conditions. If they cannot adapt, the species eventually goes extinct.

Not only do farmed salmon lack genetic diversity, they are full of harmful chemicals, as well. Chile's National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service reported the country's salmon producers used 557 tonnes of antibiotics in 2015, with consumption rate per tonne of salmon reaching its highest point in nine year at 660 grams per tonne. Chile is the world's second largest salmon industry.

Farmed salmon are also more susceptible to disease.

"Salmon farms keep pens in the ocean, where the fish swim in their own feces, and breed disease and sea lice that kill wild salmon, threatening the orcas' ability to feed," Anderson said.

Salmon farming can also contribute to algae blooms in both fresh and salt water. Salmon farms could exacerbate the blooms by dumping rotten or contaminated fish into the sea. Sea Shepherd hopes to expose malpractices such as these.

"It is personally very satisfying to me to send one of our vessels to my home province of British Columbia, to address one of the most insidious threats to biodiversity on the West Coast—salmon farms," Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said. "Our mission is to investigate, document and expose an industry that is spreading disease, parasites and destroying the natural habitat of our wild salmon - the coho, the sockeye and the chinook. These exotic Atlantic salmon simply do not belong in these waters."

Watch this PSA on the campaign:

Source: http://www.ecowatch.com/pamela-anderson-sea-shepherd-investigate-farmed-salmon-1924398946.html

Where To Buy The Best Salmon? How to Avoid Toxic Farmed Salmon

Where To Buy The Best Salmon? How to Avoid Toxic Farmed Salmon 

Subscribe to my channel: https://goo.gl/cl7awD

So-Called Sustaianble Farmed Verlasso Salmon

So-Called Sustaianble Farmed Verlasso Salmon 

Subscribe to my channel: https://goo.gl/cl7awD

http://www.verlasso.com/salmon/nutrition-and-health/

Salmon in Our Diet

According to the USDA’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines, we should consume at least 8 ounces of seafood per week to increase our overall wellness and improve heart health. That’s more than twice the current average intake of 3.5 ounces. Verlasso salmon is a wonderful way to meet this recommendation.

Salmon is considered a nutritional “superfood” for its many health benefits. Supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. One serving of Verlasso salmon provides about 2 to 2.5 grams of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids in an 8 ounce serving. Salmon is also an excellent source of protein and contains 75% less saturated fat than a steak.

The USDA also recommends that women who are pregnant or breast feeding eat up to 12 ounces of seafood every week to increase their intake of omega-3 fatty acids, for their own health and their babies’ health.

Benefits of Omega-3

You’ve probably heard about the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. The two most important types of omega-3s are EPA and DHA. What you might not know is that our ability to produce these two fatty acids is limited. We get most of our EPA and DHA directly from what we eat, including salmon. Salmon, in turn, get their omega-3s from what they eat. Consuming 8 ounces of seafood per week increases your intake of both EPA and DHA.

Wild Salmon Isn't The Right Color and Tastes Bad

Wild Salmon Isn't The Right Color and Tastes Bad 

Subscribe to my channel: https://goo.gl/cl7awD

Wild Salmon Isn't The Right Color and Tastes Bad.

www.NoFarmedSalmon.com

Aroma Thyme Bistro

(845) 647-3000

165 Canal St, Ellenville, NY  12428

1st Green Certified© Restaurant in the HV. New American menu w/ grass-fed steaks, seafood & vegan. 300 craft beers, 300 wines & indy spirits. www.AromaThymeBistro.com.

Marcus & Jamie Gu 

‪Twitter: @Aroma_Thyme

IG: hudsonvalleygreenrestaurant

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Chef Marcus Guiliano is an award-winning chef, green restaurateur, real food activist, professional speaker, restaurant consultant & ultra-marathoner. Devoting his career to a whole food, whole life approach, Chef Marcus has coined the phrase Eco-Lectic Cuisine. The notion behind Eco-Lectic Cuisine is how Chef Marcus marries healthy food with ethically and socially responsible sustainable business practices. Marcus is often heard saying, “It's the whole picture that matters." Chef Marcus, and his wife Jamie,  had to overcome a handful of health challenges in the late 90s. He was able to eliminate all of the medications he was taking and in the transition cure an asthmatic condition he had from birth. After overcoming his various health challenges, Chef Marcus was invited to contribute over 200 recipes to several Dr. Gary Null's books. In addition to successfully owning and operating the first Green Certified restaurant in the Hudson Valley, Aroma Thyme Bistro, Chef Marcus has begun to devote his time consulting and trouble shooting for other restaurants. His master consulting project is www.50mistakes.com: an free online cyber coaching tool for applicable to all businesses, not just restaurants. Garnering his passion for clean, sustainable, healthy food choices, Chef Marcus has launched other activist/watchdog oriented sites including: NoFarmedSalmon.com, ChefonaMission.com & the controversial FoodFraudTV.com. On FoodFraudTV.com , Chef Marcus has called out fellow chefs for not being honest to their patrons on their menus. Chef Marcus has a rather large following on YouTube and his videos can be found under the moniker: MarcusG.tv. Chef Marcus has been featured on CNN, Dr OZ, New York Post, New York Times, TEDx Longdock, Best Chef's America, Sierra Club Magazine, Huffington Post, International Wine Masters, Bottom Line Publications, Smithsonian (Online) and Organic Spa Magazine. The Colorado Dept of Agriculture stated, “Marcus Guiliano is the Willie Nelson of Farm to Table”. Recently, OneGreenPlanet.com named Chef Marcus as one of The “5 Food Activists Helping To Make Big Changes."  Most days Chef Marcus can be found pursing his passion of food at his restaurant Aroma Thyme Bistro or on pursuing his passion for running on one of the many country roads and trails surrounding his restaurant.

U.S. retailers begin taking farmed fish off their shelves as antibiotic overuse destroys fish farming industry

 

 

The biggest seller of organic foods has decided to greatly reduce the number of antibiotic-treated salmon it purchases from Chile, a move that's expected to a deliver a huge financial blow to the aquaculture industry.

Costco recently announced that they will no longer be buying the majority of its salmon from Chile, the world's second largest producer of the fish, following an increase in consumer awareness regarding the dangers associated with the widespread use of antibiotics.

The extensive use of human drugs on farmed animals, including fish, is contributing to an increase in superbugs, or microorganisms that have grown resistant to antibiotics, posing a severe threat to humans, as these types of infectious diseases are more difficult to treat.

Costco drastically cuts farmed salmon purchases from Chile

Previously purchasing about 90 percent of its salmon from Chile, the membership-only warehouse says it will now buy just 40 percent from the South American exporter as they look to Norway (the world's largest salmon producer) to supply the majority of their demand.

Over the last few years, Wal-Mart, Wegmans and Safeway have also reduced purchases of Chilean salmon.

For eight years, Chile has been struggling to contain the spread of a virus that is killing millions of fish; in response to this and widespread bacterial disease, Chilean farmers have turned to antibiotics in order to keep their fish stock alive despite unsanitary conditions. In 2008, Chile used nearly 350 times more antibiotics on its farmed salmon than Norway, its chief competitor.

Industry officials say this is because Norway has developed vaccines to protect theirsalmon against illnesses, a development that Chile has been unable to achieve due to a lack of funding.

Under a new "information access law," Chile's government, for the first time, revealed information detailing its use of antibiotics in salmon production following a request by the environmental group Oceana.

While the high usage of drugs raised alarm, the industry defended its practices, claiming that the antibiotics are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is the only method available to fight fish-borne illnesses including rickettsia.

Several years ago, however, three Chilean salmon-farming companies were caught using a number of drugs not approved by the FDA, some of which include the antibiotic flumequine, oxolinic acid and the pesticide emamectin benzoate, according to Grist.org.

The illness plaguing millions of salmon, rickettsia, is caused by a parasitic bacteria known as SRS which is carried by sea lice that causes skin lesions and hemorrhaging in infected fish, resulting in the swelling of their kidneys and spleen, which eventually kills them. The disease was first reported in Chile in 1989.

Environmental groups blame unsanitary conditions and cramped pens as "super lice" infect marine life

The environmental group Food & Water Watch says[PDF] ocean aquaculture, "the mass production of fish in large, floating net pens or cages in the sea — has often led to environmental and other disasters in the countries where it has been practiced commercially."

When farmed fish escape into wild, it's a major cause for concern as they pose an enormous threat to wild fish due to the diseases they carry.

Unsanitary and cramped living conditions allow disease to run rampant among farmed fish (similar to factory farms on land), making them more susceptible to pancreatic and amoebic gill disease, infectious salmon anemia (ISA) and an increase in sea lice, a destructive parasite commonly found in highly stocked net pens.

Sea lice has also become resistant to pesticides, allowing them to morph into "super lice," killing both captive and wild fish.

Despite assurances that farmed fish wouldn't survive in the wild, they've been identified in more than 80 rivers in British Columbia. More than 500,000 farmed fish escapes occurred in 2009, according to Norwegian farming statistics, including cod, halibut, salmon and trout.

It's also feared that farmed fish, which have minimal genetic diversity due to inbreeding, may mate with wild fish and over time cause them to lose "natural traits that help them survive in the wild."

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/052017_fish_farming_industry_Costco_antibiotic_overuse.html

Did David Suzuki prevaricate about PCBs in farmed salmon? And if so, WHY?

"There is good science in the campaign of course.  All campaigns

at the David Suzuki Foundation begin with good science."

- Dr. David Suzuki

This post is based on a paper that I wrote in 2010, titled Research on Contaminants in Farmed Salmon: Science or Marketing? A shorter version was published in The Financial Post David Suzuki's Fish Story.

Canada has the largest coastline in the world and we're right next door to the world's largest seafood market: the United States. If there's one industry that Canada should be developing, it's aquaculture. Northern B.C. and Nova Scotia, the places where fish farming could provide hundreds of jobs, are some of the poorest parts of Canada.

Aquaculture avoids the worst risks of commercial fishing, such as over-fishing and by-catch. Yet, ironically, the biggest obstacle facing the aquaculture industry is opposition from environmentalists. In British Columbia, a "war on fish farmers" has been declared. More than 20,000 people signed a petition to close salmon farms.

"Don't buy farmed salmon ANYWHERE. Phone your local hospitals and find out if farmed salmon is served to patients," says a brochure from the David Suzuki Foundation.

"Its poison!" David Suzuki told a conference in Toronto. He wouldn't feed farmed salmon to a child, he said. In Australia, David Suzuki told an audience that farmed salmon is "full of toxic chemicals."

A few years ago, Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon, a study by Ronald Hites et al., triggered a worldwide scare about contaminants in farmed salmon. The Hites study found that levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were eight-fold higher in farmed Atlantic salmon than in Pacific salmon.

If the eight-fold difference had been between 0.5 parts per million (ppm) and 4.0 ppm, the findings would have been consequential to human health. However, the eight-fold difference was between 0.0366 ppm and 0.0048 ppm. Since the tolerable level for PCBs in fish is 2.0 ppm, the eight-fold difference is inconsequential. Nonetheless, in a newswire that dismayed scientists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reported “Farmed Salmon More Toxic Than Wild.” Following suit, the media reported the Hites study with alarming headlines worldwide.

In the wake of the Hites study and its international publicity by environmental organizations, bad press about farmed salmon tripled for about two years, according to an an Idaho University study. Ninety percent of the news items mentioned cancer risks and yet the actual research findings didn't indicate any such risks whatsoever.

The Role of the David Suzuki Foundation

Pure Salmon NY Ad PCBsMuch to the chagrin of the public health community, in publicizing the Hites study, environmental organizations - including the David Suzuki Foundation - explicitly targeted pregnant women with the flawed message that farmed salmon should be avoided because of PCBs.  The poster shown at the left is by the Pure Salmon Campaign of which the David Suzuki Foundation was a member.

The Hites study was a follow-up to a study from the David Suzuki Foundation in 2002. Even before that study was published, David Suzuki sent a form letter to thousands of supporters - including the author of this blog. David Suzuki's letter began, “This may be one of the most unusual ‘Thank you’ letters you’ve ever received, but here goes. I want to say thank you for helping me to uncover the fact that B.C. farmed salmon is heavily contaminated with PCBs and other toxins." "I really do mean Thank You,” wrote David Suzuki.

The problem is, David Suzuki didn't uncover the "fact" that he said he did. His study only had eight fish. Mercury levels were actually higher in the wild salmon than in the farmed but that's meaningless because such a small study isn't representative of either farmed or wild salmon.  This raises what I believe is a fair question:  why did David Suzuki falsely report that he had uncovered the "fact" that B.C. farmed salmon is heavily contaminated with PCBs and other toxins?  Was this an honest error?  Or did David Suzuki prevaricate about PCBs in farmed salmon?  And if so, why?

The Suzuki study came on the heels of market research by SeaWeb, conducted in the spring of 2001. A few months later, Pew made the first of several grants for the Hites study and on the very same day, Pew granted $181,000 to the David Suzuki Foundation.

David Suzuki's research about contaminants in farmed salmon was funded by the Lazar Foundation, a pro-Alaskan foundation based in Portland, Oregon. And yet, the Lazar Foundation says that it is focused on Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska - not British Columbia.  Lazar also explicitly states that it does not fund work on "toxics" so why did the Lazar Foundation pay for a study of contaminants in farmed salmon? Lazar also paid the David Suzuki Foundation $12,500 for "legal action challenging the expansion" of salmon farming in B.C. Lazar also funded market research by SeaWeb about farmed vs. wild salmon.

SeaWeb's market research found that the most compelling reason why people might avoid a certain fish is fear of contaminants. Sadly, the least important factor was whether the species is over-fished.

SeaWeb and Environmental Defense have been saying that the maximum number of safe meals of farmed salmon is half a meal per month for adults and older children and for younger children, zero meals. Who’s going to feed their child half a meal because half is safe and half isn’t?

"The avoidance of modest fish consumption due to confusion regarding risks and benefits could result in thousands of deaths every year due to cardiovascular disease, and the suboptimal neurodevelopment in young children," Harvard scientists warn.

At the University of British Columbia, scientists found that Vancouver-born infants of well-educated mothers are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids. The infants' eyesight was compromised, their brain development may have been adversely affected. This situation is not helped by the fact that Canada's most trusted environmentalist has been giving pregnant women faulty advice to avoid farmed salmon. The truth is, farmed salmon is higher in omega-3 fatty acids and lower in mercury than any other fish.

The Packard foundation paid the David Suzuki Foundation $762,600 for Pacific Salmon Forests, a project which produced a brochure titled, "Why You Shouldn't Eat Farmed Salmon."

In a series of open letters since 2007, David Suzuki has been asked whether the bad press that his foundation has generated about salmon farming is part of a "demarketing" campaign to prop up demand for Alaskan salmon. He hasn't replied but 23 press releases and negative articles about farmed salmon were quietly removed from his foundation's web-site. Nevertheless, the campaign against farmed salmon rages on. In 2010, the Moore foundation paid the David Suzuki Foundation $329,525 for "salmon market standards" and in November of 2012, Moore granted a further $496,850.

The Hites Study: A Closer Look

The same day that the Hites study was published, the Alaskan Governor issued a press release. He said, “It is important to note that this study is not telling people not to eat fish. It is telling them to eat more wild Alaskan salmon.”

David Carpenter, a co-author of the Hites study, told the press, “We hope it does not turn people away from fish, we hope it turns people away from farmed salmon.” Mr. Carpenter also told the media “women should avoid eating farmed salmon at all, from the day they are born through menopause.” He also said “one should avoid farmed salmon like the plague," and "Our results indicate elevated cancer risk from one meal (of farmed salmon) or even less per month.”

The problem is, Mr. Carpenter’s claims are way out of line with the actual findings of the Hites study. Furthermore, Agriculture Canada, the U.S. Institute of Medicine and the U.K. authorities advise eating salmon - farmed or wild - on a weekly basis.

"There are no consistent differences between wild and farmed fish both in terms of safety and nutritional contribution," says the European Food Safety Authority.

At Idaho University, Dr. Ronald Hardy estimated that the average yearly PCB intake is about 30 ug from farmed salmon, 200 ug from pork, 300 ug from poultry, 700 ug from milk, and 2,400 ug from beef. Evidently, farmed salmon is not a significant source of PCB exposure compared to other foods. Dr. Hardy concluded, “Even if Americans doubled their intake of farmed salmon, the contribution of this consumption on total yearly PCB intake would still be 40–80 times less than the amount from beef.

The Hites study was published in the prestigious journal SCIENCE, the flagship of the AAAS. At the time, the Editor-in-Chief of SCIENCE was Donald Kennedy, a former president of Stanford University, and a trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The current Editor-in-Chief of SCIENCE, Bruce Alberts, is a  trustee of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Since 2000, Packard and Moore have granted more than $130-million to B.C. organizations, none of them favourable to salmon farming. Of that, at least, $12-million went to the members of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform which runs a demarketing campaign called Farmed and Dangerous. This campaign against farmed salmon is based on research about PCBs and sea lice (Krkosek et al. 2007), conveniently published in the journal SCIENCE while the Editor-in-Chief of SCIENCE was a Packard trustee.

Packard has paid a staggering $83 million since 2000 for various projects to sway market share towards wild fish and away from the competition: imported, farmed fish. The Marine Sciences web-portal of the AAAS has been funded by Packard.

The Hites study and its publicity was paid for with $5.5-million from the Pew Charitable Trusts; $2.5 million was granted to the State University of New York and $2.5 million to the Tides Center, part of the Tides USA network. Pew also granted $140,000 to Mr. Carpenter and $300,000 to Daniel Pauly at the University of British Columbia. For a study of its kind, a $5.5 million budget was unusual. The $440,000 for publicity was highly unusual.

As per Pew's specifications, the Hites study compared farmed Atlantic salmon and wild Pacific salmon. Because wild Atlantic salmon and farmed Pacific salmon were excluded, comparisons among the same species of salmon were avoided. In essence, the study compared apples to oranges.

Had the Hites study compared wild vs. farmed Atlantic salmon, or wild vs. farmed Pacific king ("chinook") salmon, it would likely have found higher levels of contaminants in the wild fish, a conclusion precisely the opposite of what was spread around the world in scary headlines.

The Pew Charitable Trusts states that it holds itself to the highest standards of integrity, transparency and effectiveness. And yet, when asked how the Tides spent that $2.5 million, Pew staff refused to say, citing the advice of its legal department. 

"Tell the truth," says the front cover of Pew's annual report for 2010. That same year, I appealed to the Pew Charitable Trusts, in an open letter, to please clear up the confusion and controversy stemming from flagrantly unsubstantiated claims about PCBs in farmed salmon, made by Pew-funded scientists on the basis of Pew's $5.5 million dollar study. The CEO of the Pew Charitable Trusts replied indifferently, "it is important to note that this research is rigorously peer-reviewed and published in prestigious journals such as SCIENCE. It was therefore hard to understand the claim in your open letter that the findings are "flagrantly unsubstantiated." Too hard to admit maybe, but surely the CEO of a $4.5 billion dollar foundation should know when a food contains merely 3 percent of the acceptable level of an omnipresent contaminant like PCBs, there is no basis to say that that particular food should be avoided because of PCBs.

In the London Times, Magnus Linklater called the Hites study “a sorry saga of flawed science, selective research and hidden commercial bias." "That it was allowed into the pages of the apparently respectable journal SCIENCE is inexplicable,”wrote Linklater. 

Sandy Szwarc wrote in a newsletter of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, “An ulterior motive may be at work.… Facing competition from aquaculture, the wild salmon industries of California, British Columbia, and Alaska have allied themselves with environmental groups to promote wild salmon as the healthier and environmentally-friendly choice.”

Facing stiff competition from farmed salmon, the value of Alaskan salmon collapsed over the 1990s from a peak of $1.2-billion to only $125-million. Since 2002, Alaskan salmon prices have tripled. This remarkable improvement was due in part to Alaska's $50 million Salmon Revitalization program. However, much of that money went to 2,600 fishers and 63 municipalities. That won't have done much to improve salmon prices.

After Alaskan salmon prices improved, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute reported, "The infusion of dollars wasn't the sole driver; we need to be honest here. It wasn't the only thing that changed market conditions. There was some bad press for farmed salmon and there was the health issue and people wanting more seafood in their diets. All these things kind of came together like the perfect storm."

On the day before the Hites study was actually published, press releases were issued by a trio of Packard-funded environmental organizations, including SeaWeb, Environmental Defense and the David Suzuki Foundation. SeaWeb calls wild salmon "the white truffle of seafood" and has a long history of promoting Alaskan salmon. Environmental Defense provides recipes for Alaskan salmon. Since 2000, SeaWeb and Environmental Defense have been paid $23-million and $21-million, respectively, by the Packard foundation.

SeaWeb was also paid by the Moore Foundation to co-ordinate an "antifarming campaign," including "science messages" and "earned media." After questions were raised about this grant, it was quietly re-written by the Moore Foundation, along with three other grants for a total of $3.6 million for the "antifarming campaign."

In my first letter to David Suzuki, back in April of 2007, I concluded by asking Dr. Suzuki a series of questions about his foundation's involvement in the U.S.-funded "antifarming campaign" against farmed salmon. I asked Dr. Suzuki (see page 25) whether his foundation is or was one of the "antifarming ENGOs" and whether it participated in the "standardization of messaging" and the "co-ordination of media" through SeaWeb, based in Maryland.  Dr. Suzuki did not answer my question but several months later, I discovered that a document which shows that, in fact, the sea lice researchers that the David Suzuki Foundation funded at the University of Alberta had a "research partnership" with SeaWeb. Not only the Moore Foundation funded SeaWeb for an "antifarming campaign" involving "science messages,"  Moore also funded the sea lice research itself.  This another information ultimately led me to file a formal complaint of apparent scientific misconduct with the University of Alberta about the sea lice controversy that brought the salmon farming industry to its knees. For more about my complaint of apparent scientific misconduct, please click here.

Source:http://fairquestions.typepad.com/rethink_campaigns/did-david-suzuki-prevaricate-about-pcbs-in-farmed-salmon.html

Former Chef Critics That Now Endorse Farmed Salmon

www.NoFarmedSalmon.com
Chef Marcus Guiliano  has been an advocate for over 10 years on healthy, sustainable, local & real food.  He found his mission in cooking when he reversed over a handful of medical conditions including 28 years of asthma. For more information visit http://www.chefonamission.com.
Chef Guiliano owns and operates Aroma Thyme Bistro which Certified Green© by The Green Restaurant Association.  His latest project is http://www.truthinmenu.com

Chef on a Mission Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/myqspp3

My Central Channel:
http://www.MarcusG.tv

Restaurant Lies
http://www.TruthinMenu.com

No To Farmed Salmon
http://www.NoFarmedSalmon.com

My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/Aroma_Thyme

My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude

My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

Cooke Aquaculture's atlantic salmon feedlot, St. Mary's Bay Nova Scotia Feb.21, 2013

This footage was taken Feb. 21 ,2013 four days after the storm. 

Most of the above water nets that keep the birds out are gone. Many of the ropes that keep the bottom nets in place appear to be gone. But, according to Glenn Cooke from Cooke Aquaculture:

"There is no such thing as open pen salmon farming. Our ocean farms, where our salmon spend the latter half of their lives in their natural habitat, are not open. Farms are securely moored on the ocean floor with systems that are designed and built to withstand local conditions by experts right here in Atlantic Canada. A multiple system of durable nets keep the salmon on the farm and the predators out, and our track record of containing our fish has been exemplary."

Quote taken from an opinion piece written by Glenn Cooke titled: "Why we need to farm the oceans"

After most storms in St. Mary's Bay these feedlots are twisted and compromised. This is just another day in the life of NOT open pen feedlots in our oceans. If the fish in these pens didn't have an opportunity to swim away - they floated away. Local fishermen reported seals feasting in the area and many dead sea birds. I would guess the birds were going into the compromised pens, were trapped in them and drowned.

And now this :http://asf.ca/concerns-raised-on-esca...

Get these threats to wild salmon out of our oceans! Putting fish feedlots in our oceans is irresponsible and a crime against nature.

Why Are So Many Chefs Supporting This Toxic Salmon

It seems that more and more chefs are pushing Faroe Island Salmon. The Faroe Islands, located north of Scotland and east of Norway market themselves as a great source of salmon. A wise consumer however, with even a small amount of investigation, will discover that the salmon being touted is farm raised: not wild. They claim sustainable, clean, and pure farm raised salmon. Upon closer inspection, the more I investigate, the more I notice this salmon appearing in the market place at both national and local levels. The increased market presence of this particular salmon seems to have been given a boost by a few nationally and locally recognized chefs.

If you know anything about me or Aroma Thyme then you know we oppose farm-raised salmon. There are many reasons for this. I encourage you to investigate further yourself by checking out the articles and videos that I’ve compiled on my new website: www.NoFarmedSalmon.com. You’ll find documentation covering salmon from farms worldwide.

I acknowledge that salmon farming has come a long way since the 70s, but there are certain elements to open-pen salmon farming that may never be acceptable. Of course, industry proponents say otherwise, while the anti-farmed salmon advocacy groups are filled with those living in communities that are directly and negatively impacted by salmon farms. These community members include scientists, marine biologists, local fisherman and others who may rely upon their local waters for a living.

Again, while in some areas salmon farming practices have moved towards a “sustainable” process, most if not all salmon farms have major flaws to begin with because the whole notion of salmon farming is really built upon flaws that don’t really have any answers.

Farms make claims regarding how excellent and nutritious their finished product is. Sadly, they don’t tell you what the percentage of die off, how much disease effects how much of their overall population, or where and how the refuse (dead carcasses and fish waste) is dumped. Sea lice, for instance, is something that can cause a great deal of damage in a salmon farm. Sea lice can attach themselves to the fry (baby salmon) before they mature and begin growing scales. When a farm is infected, the issue is not necessarily contained to the farm because most, if not nearly all salmon farms at no truly closed systems, but rather more open. In other words, salmon farm “run-off” will find its way into the local water systems (rivers, lakes, streams, bays, etc...) So, once a farm is infected sea lice can find their way to the local wild salmon population. In British Columbia it is estimated that some 60% of wild salmon have been exposed to sea lice from salmon farms. You’d never know this to be the case based upon the self-proclaimed statement found on the Skuna Bay Salmon Farms’ website, “Another wild salmon save.” The sad reality is that these farms are linked to a decline in wild salmon population.

We all know the oft stated, “You are what you eat.” Salmon farms use fish meal pellets that contain an array of non-natural salmon food. Of course the industry claims how great this food is. It's basically ground up fish stolen out of other fisheries from around the world. Instead of these fish being left to feed the local ecosystem they were born in, they are caught, processed, and then fed to farm raised salmon. It can take up to four pounds of wild fish to grow one pound of salmon on a farm. This is yet another major flaw of the so-called sustainable farm raised salmon industry. This is clearly a net deficit not just in the food supply chain, but in other resources as well.

Fish meal isn’t the only thing going into the diet of farm raised salmon. The industry promotes the notion of an “advanced diet” for their salmon. Other item that can find their way into a salmon’s diet is soy, and since soy is used, it is very likely that more often than not it will be genetically modified soy. Additionally, there are farms in Europe that now feed farm raised salmon chicken and pork by-products.

Tell me – on what planet do salmon normally eat soy, chicken and pork? Seriously?!?! Here too I encourage you to do a bit of research to learn what is meant by the term “by-products”. Trust me when I say, you will not be happy in the least.

Let’s return to the Faroe Islands salmon. Essentially since the beginning of farm raised salmon there have been reports of the significant contamination on these farms. Recently, scientists have issued devastating warnings about the dangerous levels of toxic chemicals found in the salmon from Scotland and the Faroe Islands. So serious are these claims that warnings have been issued to NOT eat more than THREE servings per year. With a warning like this, why would you even put one serving into your body?

Researchers discovered that highest concentrations of toxic industrial pollutants (PCBS and dioxins) and agricultural pesticides (toxaphene and dieldrin) in salmon came from the Faroe Islands and Scotland. It was surmised that the fish feed contained oil recovered from the ground-up bodies of tiny sea life harvested in the North Atlantic - a dumping ground for decades for manmade toxins. It was also discovered that fish from Norway performed badly as well. Dr. Foran has also been heard to say that after his involvement with this study, his family would never again eat farmed raised salmon.

The U.S. journal, Science, concluded, "The consumption advice is that no more than one meal every four months should be consumed in order to avoid an increased risk of cancer. Even smaller amounts, it suggested, could trigger harmful effects to brain function and the immune system.”



Don Staniford of the Salmon Farm Protest Group said, "This scientific study blows out of the water the myth that farmed salmon is safe, nutritious and healthy.”



The study did say some of the less contaminated farm-raised salmon comes from Washington and Oregon State.



The safest type of salmon to eat is wild salmon. Further still, look for only Alaskan salmon. In fact Alaska does not allow fish farming so there is no worrying or guessing if it is wild from Alaska.
With all of this data so readily available on the Internet it is beyond me why chefs push farm raised salmon from the Faroe Islands or anywhere else for that matter. When you see the words “farm raised salmon, Faroe Islands, Scottish, etc…” prominently displayed on the menus of the restaurants that you patronize, remember that you would be best to select something else to eat.



As already stated, we recommend wild Alaskan Salmon when you chose to eat salmon.

Just say “no” to farmed salmon

Twenty years ago, a lead article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that men in a Danish fishing village who ate at least 30 oz of salmon a week had half the risk of getting a heart attack as their bovine-consuming neighbors.

Since heart disease had been, until very recently, the leading cause of death in this country physicians have been recommending that everyone eat fish at least once weekly. In addition to its benefit in reduction of cardiovascular mortality, fish oils have also been found to be of benefit in reducing arthritis and other inflammatory disorders and to improve cognition (particularly in the offspring of fish consuming moms). The NEJM article was published in May of 1985 and between 1987 and 1999 the annual salmon consumption in the United States increased by 23%. During the same time period it increased by 14% in Europe.

This increase in fish consumption has unfortunately not proven to be a boon to the hardy fishermen and women of Alaska. In fact, since the Exxon Valdez disaster these hard-working folks are getting far less per pound for their fish than they were prior to the disaster (which is still not cleaned up). Close to 60% of the salmon now sold is raised in farms located around the globe (British Columbia, Washington State, Chile and Northern Europe) in which Atlantic salmon (genus Salmo) are crowded into pens and fed fish meal pellets. If you are looking at salmon in the grocery store or the restaurant and it says just “salmon” or “Atlantic Salmon”, it is farmed. The presence of these pens in the Pacific Northwest pose a serious threat to the native runs of pacific salmon (genus Oncorhyncus) in those areas.

While the potential health benefits of wild salmon are well known, the potential toxicity of the farmed salmon needs to be highlighted. Several studies have now been done measuring the levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, and other persistent chlorinated contaminants in farmed salmon. A study done by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland found that farmed salmon had an average of four times the amount of PCBs and Dioxins as wild salmon. In the United States, the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) did a small study of farmed salmon that were purchased at stores in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Portland, OR. They found that seven of the ten farmed salmon purchased had levels of PCB that should raise health concerns. The EWG researchers found an average PCB level of 27.3 ppb in the ten fish studied with highest levels in the salmon that was farm raised in Scotland. This was over 5 times higher than the level of PCBs found in a sampling of wild salmon.

These studies, done on relatively small numbers of fish, had their findings confirmed in a subsequent study done on over 700 salmon (totaling approximately 2 metric tons of farmed and wild salmon) from around the globe. Thirteen persistent chlorinated chemical pollutants were found in significantly higher levels in farmed salmon than in wild salmon. The only compound that did not reach statistical significance was lindane which was still higher in farmed than wild salmon. The four compounds with the greatest differences were PCBs, dioxins, toxaphene and dieldrin. The least contaminated fish samples came from Washington State and Chile still had significantly higher levels of PCBs, dioxins and dieldrin. The most contaminated farmed salmon came from Scotland and the Faroe islands.

The researchers were wise enough to also test the fish pellets that these farmed salmon were fed. They tested samples of salmon feed from global suppliers that account for 80% of all salmon feed sold world-wide, and found the source of the salmon’s contamination. The levels of these toxins in the fish were directly related to their presence in their feed. These pellets are made from smaller fish which have been contaminated with these pollutants. PCBs then build up in the salmon at levels about 20-30 that of their environment and feed.

Proponents of aquaculture (fish farming) are ready to point out that these levels are not necessarily a health hazard. However, studies that have looked at the effect of PCB intake on offspring appear to contradict that stance. There have been a number of studies that have measured maternal levels of PCBs and then followed the offspring for a number of years. Their findings are consistent that the higher the serum levels of maternal PCBs the greater the neurological deficits in the offspring.

In 1979 rice bran cooking oil that was contaminated with PCBs was used for a number of months in Taiwan. Children born to exposed mothers (including children born up to 6 years after the exposure) were then followed for persistent neuro-psychological problems. At 6 years post exposure the offspring scored an average of 6 IQ points lower than their older siblings who were themselves exposed to the PCBs. In addition they exhibited 23% greater rates of problem behavior and 15% greater levels of activity than their controls. By age 17 these children still showed significantly greater problems with behavior and had a persistent IQ reduction averaging 3 IQ points. This was true even in children born to mothers up to 6 years after their exposure.

A study done in Michigan followed the development of children born to mothers who had consumed fish from Lake Michigan which were polluted with PCBs. These were not farm-raised fish with 4-16 times the level of PCBs found in wild fish. Even though the average maternal serum levels of PCBs were only mildly higher than US averages, these children did show persistent effects. By age 11 these children showed reduced total IQ, and especially verbal IQ, that became more pronounced as the maternal levels of PCBs increased. IQ drops in the group with the highest maternal serum level averaged 6.2 IQ points. This reduction in IQ is similar to that found in children with elevated blood lead levels. The children with in-utero exposure had poorer verbal and reading comprehension, poor “freedom from distractibility”, reduced short and long-term memory, and decreased ability to organize and plan. These children were more than three times likely to perform poorly on testing and were at least two years behind their controls in reading skills. Fortunately levels of PCB in maternal breastmilk had absolutely no association with these neurotoxicity effects. It appears that these defects are developed secondary to PCB exposure in utero, not after delivery.

The alarming point of the ongoing Michigan study is that the mothers only had blood PCB levels slightly above the US average. It would not be hard to have much higher than normal PCB levels if one were to be eating farmed salmon on a regular basis. Even though no federal agency has put out a warning, I think it would be prudent to let all women for whom pregnancy is possible know that they should avoid all exposure to farmed salmon. Fortunately every grocery store seems to have cans of Alaskan Salmon that are readily available for use. With the highest EPA/DHA levels of any fish and a very low mercury and PCB levels, it provides one of the best sources of fish in the diet.

But what does one do if they have elevated PCB levels in their blood. As was found in the Taiwan study, children born up to 6 years after mom’s exposure still had problems. Since PCBs are fat-soluble, they tend to stay in the body for a long time and redistribute throughout adipose stores. Since the human body is not designed to easily get rid of fats or oils these compounds tend to bioaccumulate. Supplementation that helps to produce and dump bile (cholegogue and cholerectic actions) and have that bile be excreted from the body would be beneficial. Psyllium is still the only fiber that is known to actually increase the fecal bile content. But having patients undergo a program that combines low temperature sauna and colonic irrigations may be the best protocol to reduce levels of PCBs.

PCBs have also been associated in the medical literature with different cancers. One of my cancer patients had his PCB levels tested prior to going through our intensive cleansing program for a period of four weeks. He was retested twice as he continued to do a maintenance cleansing protocol. His initial program included 3 hours of low temperature sauna five days weekly for 20 session, that were followed by constitutional hydrotherapy and colonic irrigations. Supplementation was included as part of his cleansing program along with dietary changes. After the initial 20 sessions he did one colonic irrigation weekly for the following 18 months. Prior to starting his cleansing program he had 3 (out of 10 tested) PCBs present in his blood totaling 2.5 ng/ml (ppb). Eleven months later only 2 were present for a level of 1.4 ng/ml. Seven months after that none were detected! This rate of decline far outpaces the normal glacial reduction of PCBs in the serum (as highlighted in the Taiwan spill studies), showing that this cleansing method was clearly effective for this individual in reducing his body burden of PCBs.

While such cleansing programs are available to reduce the body burden of persistent chemical pollutants, it would be wiser to avoid exposures to them in the first place. For the sake of the children-to-be, the intake of all Atlantic salmon should be avoided.

Source: http://drcrinnion.com/just-say-no-to-farmed-salmon/ 

Farmed Salmon Are Not a Sustainable Alternative

      

Yesterday the Washington Post published a dangerously misleading article about farmed salmon. Lauding improvements in the salmon farming industry, they assert that farmed salmon is a viable alternative to wild-caught fish. We'd like to set the record straight: farmed salmon is a terrible choice for our oceans. 

When you eat farmed salmon, you're really eating another fish called the jack mackerel, or another wild species like sardines or anchovies. Salmon are carnivorous, and farms feed their fish food pellets made from these smaller wild fish. The problem is that many of these species, especially jack mackerel, are dangerously overfished.

For most Chilean farms, it takes about three pounds of wild fish to feed one pound of salmon. So you are likely eating three pounds of jack mackerel or other wild species -- which are likely in trouble -- when sit down to eat your pound of farmed salmon. A small number of Chilean farms have managed to reduce this ratio to one to one. But even then, it still takes a pound of wild fish to make your pound of farmed salmon. 

Feed conversion is just one of many problems. Chilean farms are located in pristine, deep-water fjords off of Patagonia, where even minimal pollution could irreparably damage the ecosystem. No matter what they do, even the most responsible salmon farms will pollute their waters with parasiticides, chemicals, and fish feces. The Chilean farmed salmon industry also uses more than 300,000 kilograms of antibiotics a year to keep their fish alive, causing bacterial resistances that affect the surrounding ecosystem and people. 

Salmon farming is better than it used to be, but it used to be horrendous. The answer to this problem is not, as the Washington Post article suggests, to make salmon aquaculture sustainable. It's to make wild fish stocks more abundant using science-based fishery management instead of promoting salmon farming, which is a destructive and wasteful way of eating wild fish. As long as fisheries are managed properly, wild seafood can provide a healthy meal a day for billions of people.

Eating three pounds of jack mackerel straight from the oceans to your plate is a far better choice for the environment and for your health. By eating less-popular species you can still enjoy a healthy, wild fish, and our ocean waters can stay free of the pollutants that come with salmon farms. But this won't happen if we keep on grinding our wild fish stocks up to turn them into salmon fish-food. So skip the farmed salmon. Opt for wild-caught, or break out of your boring (and unsustainable) salmon routine and try eating that jack mackerel, or another wild fish, instead.

DDT found in salmon: Pesticide discovered in farmed fish on sale in five major British supermarkets

                                   Fresh salmon sold in five major supermarkets was found to contain trace levels of pesticide DDT

Pesticides have been found in fresh salmon sold by leading supermarkets.

Farmed salmon from Norway and Scotland is hugely popular as a healthy oily fish.

However, the production process involves dousing the fish, reared in cages moored in the sea, in chemicals to kill parasitic lice.

They are also given a protein feed, created from small waste fish which can be contaminated with chemicals from the environment – including DDT and its by-products.

Trace levels of these chemicals were found in fish sold by Waitrose, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Iceland. DDT was banned for use almost 30 years ago because of its risk to human health.

A recently published study suggested a link between DDT, an associated by-product compound called pp-DDE and Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly.

Official studies show farmed salmon is more likely to carry traces of chemical pesticides than any other food type.

The Pesticides Residues Monitoring Programme, which is overseen by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), tested farmed salmon and trout sold in the supermarkets.

The figures from 2013, which have just been released through a Freedom of Information Act request, found the pesticides pp-DDE, Dieldrin and Cypermethrin, as well as other chemicals, in fish sold by supermarkets.

Dieldrin, a powerful pesticide, was banned in the 1970s.

It has been linked to health problems such as Parkinson’s, breast cancer, and immune, reproductive, and nervous system damage.

Cypermethrin is a pesticide used on farmed salmon to kill off lice that live on the captive fish.

The results revealed two samples of rainbow trout fillets from the UK sold by Morrisons tested positive for Dieldrin, while salmon sold by Iceland also tested positive. Tesco Everyday Value salmon fillets from Norway were found to contain traces of pp-DDE.

The production process of salmon involves covering the fish in chemicals to kill parasitic lice. The creatures are also given a protein feed which can be contaminated with chemicals from the environment - including DDT and its by-products.

The chemicals accumulate in the fat of the fish. Salmon which is farmed is far fattier than the wild fish and therefore more likely to carry chemical traces.

The details were revealed by Don Staniford, Director of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture, who is a long standing critic of fish farms.

He said: ‘Farmed salmon is the most contaminated food on the supermarket shelf. It should carry a Government health warning.

‘Salmon farmers can decontaminate fish feed – this has been known for decades but the industry has refused to take action.’

Government experts have ruled that the chemical levels are so low as to not pose a risk, say the HSE. 

The HSE added that it ‘does detect and report occasional residues of substances used to control lice on fish. When used for this purpose these substances are regulated as veterinary medicines.’

The British Retail Consortium, which speaks for food stores, said: ‘The HSE has confirmed the microscopic residues present no issues for consumers.

‘The chemical banned since the 1980s is still present in minute levels in the environment and the survey is to assess the levels present.’

Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2576088/DDT-salmon-Pesticide-discovered-farmed-fish-sale-five-major-British-supermarkets.html