Fish Farm Salmon Escape into British Columbia Waters; Hawaii Approves Tuna Farm

Some 40,000 Atlantic salmon have reportedly escaped a fish farm into Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of British Columbia. They apparently slipped through a hole in the net while farm crews removed fish that had died from low oxygen levels. Recovery was apparently delayed, and Atlantic salmon were found some miles away by commercial fishermen.

Fish farm critics have called for closed containment systems for the 35 million salmon raised in fish farms, noting that while Atlantic salmon are not supposed to survive in B.C. waters, escaped farm fish have apparently been found in 80 B.C. rivers, and juvenile Atlantic salmon have been found in three rivers. They called the latest escape “another blow to the health of our marine ecosystems and wild-salmon population.”

Meanwhile, the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources has apparently approved the nation’s first tuna farm off the coast of the Big Island. The venture, operated by the Honolulu-based Hawaii Oceanic Technology, will artificially hatch bigeye at a University of Hawaii lab in Hilo and then transport the fish to ocean pens three miles offshore where they will be allowed to grow to 100 pounds. The farm is reportedly expected to produce 6,000 tons of bigeye when fully operational. The company expects to avoid the diseases that plague other fish farms, claiming that its fish will not be as densely packed in the cages, which will be in deep water where strong currents will sweep away fish waste and uneaten food.

Still, environmentalists, who call the venture “an industrial feed lot,” have reportedly warned that diseased farm fish may escape and contaminate wild stocks. They are also concerned that the project will not be sustainable if it imports its feed and exports the majority of its tuna. See Victoria Times Colonist and Associated Press, October 24, 2009.