Ephemerica

Since we recently camped outside one of these salmon farming facilities in Chile, I thought I’d pass on this NY Times article about a virus that is devastating the salmon stocks down here. I know this seems impossible, but they think that the fact that the salmon pens are too crowded and too close together may have something to do with the epidemic! The article also brings up all the major problems with salmon farming: the salmon require more food than wild fish, lots of antibiotics and hormones are used on them (released into open water, of course), and apparently the ones that escape are starting to become invasive (I don’t think they are indigenous to those waters).

Although there is no evidence that the virus is potentially harmful to humans, be aware that this salmon is sold at retailers like Costco and Safeway, among others. But I’m sure that all the readers of this blog already know that they should only buy wild-caught salmon (courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch)….

Posted by Matthew on March 27th, 2008 | Filed under: General, Chile