In Norway, one of the biggest threats to the biodiversity is all the numerous fish farms along the coast. Here we will inform you about the negative sides of the fishfarm industry in relation to farmed salmon and farmed cod.

The image below is from a cod that escaped a fish farm in Norway. It has gotten the nickname parrot cod because of its deformed mouth. (image borrowed from the Green Warriors)

Norway has been producing farmed salmon and farmed cod for many years. Environmental organizations has for many years demanded that this industry should move all their production to closed production plants. The reason for this is multifaceted.

One of the negative effects related to this kind of production is that farmed salmon in houndreds of thousands escape the fishfarms. These escaped farmed salmon then consume huge quantities of wild fish in order to survive. Wild fish that would normally serve as food for the wild fish.

Another worrying result of the escaped farmed salmon, is that they are able to mate with the wild salmon. The escaped salmon swim up our rivers and mix their eggs and semen with the wild fish. This in turn lead to changed DNA footprint for the wild fish. What these changes will cause over time is hard to predict, but it is worrying.

Then we have the possible health issue. The health issue are relevant in relation to the fish itself, for those that consume the farmed fish and for the environment in close proximity of the fishfarms. In Norway huge quantities of highly toxic chemicals as well as antibiotics are used in order to kill sea lice and prevent the fish from getting sick respectively. Some of the newly introduced chemicals used to kill sea lice are diflubenzuron and teflubenzuron. These two highly toxic chemicals are also used on land, but here it is not allowed to be used in close proximity to water. That the norwegian authorities has allowed the fishfarm industry to use these toxic chemicals in open water is nothing less than a regulatory scandal.

We should not forget that in order to produce one kilo of farmed salmon the fishfarm industry use about 3 to 5 kilogram of wild fish. What a waste of natural resources.

The fishfarms also produce huge quantities of sea lice, which result in abnormal quantities in the sea lice populations in our fjords. These sea lice kill wild salmon and sea trout in large numbers.

Since the fishfarm industry and the regulatory authorities allows this destruction of biodiversity to continue, in order to enrich themselves we recommend the following: DO NOT EAT FARMED SALMON (or farmed Cod) FROM NORWAY. It might not be good for your health, and it is beyond doubt a disaster for the environment.

See this documentary about the conditions in British Colombia, Canada. Here they expose the reality of fish farming. This is a business which is about to wipe out the entire wild salmon population as well as many species which depend on the wild salmon.