Salmon

Over the last twenty years the fish stocks of salmon in the Atlantic have halved, and Atlantic farmed salmon is often subject to intensive practices.
TIP: Choose organically farmed salmon, or wild salmon from the Pacific (check those air miles).

Problems

Wild Atlantic salmon stocks are severely depleted. Numbers have halved in the last 20 years due to overfishing.
Farmed Atlantic salmon uses caught Salmon to make Salmon feed. The salmon are farmed intensively and disease is often spread to wild fish.
Farming practices can be highly polluting to the environment as both organic and chemical waste is discharged into the sea.

Solutions

The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) was established in 1984. It recommends:
Prohibiting overfishing at high seas.
Restricting harvests in marine estuaries and freshwater fisheries.
Minimizing the impacts of aquaculture and the restoring of habitats.
To help improve the current situation buy Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified sustainable wild caught Pacific salmon from Alaska. Or buy farmed Atlantic salmon, which has been certified as organic by MSC.
Also look for certification by the RSPCA freedom foods scheme as meeting high welfare standards.

Photo courtesy of Steve Urszenyi