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Do you eat salmon? check this out.

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liftedresearcher
Posts: 1140 - Karma: 1,774
so i'm not really a guy who gets passionate about current issues and shit like that, but this is something that i am pretty passionate about.

salmon farms on the west coast of BC are fucking up the wild stocks and our wonderful Harper government is covering it up.

farmed salmon is fucking disgusting and people need to know the truth about it. diseases and parasites run through entire farms and spread into the wild stock and some of these diseased fish are reaching our food supply.

I have been fishing BC's rivers around the whistler area and i have witnessed the prespawn deaths of dozens of salmon with my own eyes. in my opinion, wild salmon is one of BC's most important natural resources, and we need to do a better job protecting it. next time you buy salmon, please make sure you are buying wild salmon. it tastes 10000 times better than farmed and you are supporting a sustainable industry that employee's thousands of BC fishermen.

this documentary is incredibly well done and it opens your eyes to the damage the BC salmon farming industry is doing to wild salmon. I know its an hour long and not many of you guys will watch it, but i encourage you to check it out if you have the time. i hope that my children and my children's children will be able to enjoy salmon fishing on our rivers for years to come.

http://youtu.be/MTbxOFcvC4U?list=UUtKiAu2-yyf9Tr-vRvkrzaA
Sep 29 2014 9:13PM
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Idahoskier420
Posts: 719 - Karma: 86
liftedresearcherIf we could restore habitats and spawning grounds to what they were 70 plus years ago and dealt with some of the other issues (unsustainable salmon farming) that are affecting salmon numbers, we would have so much damn wild salmon that we wouldn't know what to do with it.



I couldn't agree more! The historic population of salmon in the Columbia River watershed was 10's of millions, and even bringing a fraction of that population back would create a renewable food source for the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

I know this thread is about salmon farming but those farms won't be going anywhere unless the population of wild salmon increases dramatically.
Oct 1 2014 4:21PM
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slamdunk
Posts: 186 - Karma: 857
I've noticed in the last couple of years a lot of salmon in my local river with large white spots on them and also dead ones at the side of the river riddled with these white patches. Is this similar to the salmon you see dying before they spawn?
Oct 1 2014 4:31PM
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liftedresearcher
Posts: 1140 - Karma: 1,774
slamdunkI've noticed in the last couple of years a lot of salmon in my local river with large white spots on them and also dead ones at the side of the river riddled with these white patches. Is this similar to the salmon you see dying before they spawn?


no the ones i have noticed have red blister things and red dots on the bottom of them and pale gills.
Oct 1 2014 6:34PM
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liftedresearcher
Posts: 1140 - Karma: 1,774
Idahoskier420I couldn't agree more! The historic population of salmon in the Columbia River watershed was 10's of millions, and even bringing a fraction of that population back would create a renewable food source for the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

I know this thread is about salmon farming but those farms won't be going anywhere unless the population of wild salmon increases dramatically.


the fraser river up here in BC had runs of over a hundred million salmon not too long ago. you could easily fulfil the market demand sustainably with a fraction of the fraser salmon run.
Oct 1 2014 6:43PM
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lIllI
Posts: 1255 - Karma: 1,986
DeebieSkeebiesthis. not everyone can afford to ball out in whole foods and farmers markets every week. blame all these food companies and farmers for making it all expensive as hell just so they can turn a profit.


It's pretty foolish to blame one agent.

The farmers could just as reasonably blame all the cheapos who go to the store and only buy the cheapest, shittiest food available, thereby removing any incentive for "honest" food to be sold at a lower price.

It's an infinite feedback loop: many people can only afford cheaply made food, business respond to that demand, which results in more shitty food being sold for cheap, while the good food doesn't have the margins to bring the price down. In response to this, people keep buying shitty food for cheap while complaining that good food costs too much, and producers keep supplying that shitty food while complaining that people prefer to slowly kill themselves with poison meat.

In other words, everyone is to blame.
Oct 1 2014 8:32PM
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lIllI
Posts: 1255 - Karma: 1,986
Phil-X-yea... but lox...


Something tells me you've never had real salmon.
Oct 1 2014 8:32PM
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Phil-X-
Posts: 7205 - Karma: 14,399
lIllISomething tells me you've never had real salmon.


bru, I go chinook fishing pretty often..
Oct 2 2014 2:11PM
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snowdon
Posts: 2480 - Karma: 391
threads so I remember to watch that documentary later
Oct 2 2014 3:15PM
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zard_gawd
Posts: 254 - Karma: 329
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kICS32kady4



Hahaha I don't know if anyone had already posted this so sorry if they have but....
Oct 2 2014 4:00PM
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jensen
Posts: 2575 - Karma: 1,250
Good post, threads for later so I can watch the documentary when I am not at work.

Simple solution, buy Alaskan salmon. All Alaska salmon is wild caught, there are no Alaskan fish farms. If it says Alaska you are good.

Also, in response to people saying if everyone eats salmon the population will be depleted... I don't think you understand how it works. The state sets quotas, fisherman fish the quotas, they sell their fish. If more people want to buy fish the demand goes up and prices go up. Fisherman friends make more money and you eat healthy.


TL/DR: buy Alaskan salmon
Oct 2 2014 4:46PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
Curiously, how much do you think Wild salmon sells for in, say, San Francisco? How does $18/lb sound to you?

The issue with this thread is everyone who is all about the wild salmon, lives where those salmon are caught so pricing is much, much cheaper. Hell i just moved up to Seattle and just bought a fuckton of wild salmon from Costco because i couldnt believe how cheap it was.

Folks living anywhere but the North West coast of N. America pay exorbitant prices for the wild stuff.
Oct 2 2014 4:59PM
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Furrer92
Posts: 784 - Karma: 341
Okanagan is seeing a re-emergence of sockeye. One of the fastest wildlife restorations, pretty cool. Could get like any out of the lake and now they're being sold in stores and shit again
Oct 2 2014 5:16PM
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slamdunk
Posts: 186 - Karma: 857
in the early 1900's farm workers near the river tweed use to complain at having to eat salmon every night of the week, as it was in such abundance, same with lobster. It was considered a peasants food.
How times have changed eh
Oct 2 2014 5:32PM
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mdurtschi
Posts: 17 - Karma: 10
jensenGood post, threads for later so I can watch the documentary when I am not at work.

Simple solution, buy Alaskan salmon. All Alaska salmon is wild caught, there are no Alaskan fish farms. If it says Alaska you are good.

Also, in response to people saying if everyone eats salmon the population will be depleted... I don't think you understand how it works. The state sets quotas, fisherman fish the quotas, they sell their fish. If more people want to buy fish the demand goes up and prices go up. Fisherman friends make more money and you eat healthy.


TL/DR: buy Alaskan salmon


As a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska I couldn't agree more. Actually fish and game in alaska strictly regulates openings and closures and salmon runs have been increasing over the past few years. In 2013 the Prince William Sound pink salmon run was the largest in recorded history. In addition to the farmed salmon bullshit the company AquAdvantage is trying to produce a genetically modified salmon that could have some very negative impacts on wild runs if the two species ever interbred. Also it will probably be passed by the FDA.

http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/developmentapprovalprocess/geneticengineering/geneticallyengineeredanimals/ucm280853.htm
Oct 2 2014 6:31PM
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liftedresearcher
Posts: 1140 - Karma: 1,774
Furrer92Okanagan is seeing a re-emergence of sockeye. One of the fastest wildlife restorations, pretty cool. Could get like any out of the lake and now they're being sold in stores and shit again



ive done some reading into the okanagan sockeye, now it looks like a couple hundred salmon are returning. pretty cool stuff, shows how far a little hard work can go in helping restore fish populations in places that they were almost wiped out.
Oct 2 2014 8:24PM
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louie.mirags
Posts: 6015 - Karma: 5,028
Saw this and thought of this thread:

Oct 10 2014 10:33AM
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KravtZ
Posts: 6637 - Karma: 2,629
jensenGood post, threads for later so I can watch the documentary when I am not at work.

Simple solution, buy Alaskan salmon. All Alaska salmon is wild caught, there are no Alaskan fish farms. If it says Alaska you are good.

Also, in response to people saying if everyone eats salmon the population will be depleted... I don't think you understand how it works. The state sets quotas, fisherman fish the quotas, they sell their fish. If more people want to buy fish the demand goes up and prices go up. Fisherman friends make more money and you eat healthy.


TL/DR: buy Alaskan salmon


Truth...99.9999% of farmed salmon is Atlantic salmon.
Oct 10 2014 10:50AM
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mccdiggity
Posts: 27 - Karma: 100
Just watched a documentary a couple of weeks ago called Damnation. It talks about the need for dam removal in the US. A good portion of it talks about salmon farming and how dam removal would allow the salmon to return to their natural population.
The film is done by patagonia and the cinematography was absolutely stellar.

[video]
Oct 11 2014 5:40PM
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mccdiggity
Posts: 27 - Karma: 100
http://vimeo.com/89928979
Oct 11 2014 5:41PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
mccdiggityhttp://vimeo.com/89928979


so we remove the dams and allow salmon back to their natural spawning grounds.

Now farmers cant water their fields and start using drought resistant strains of seed... monsanto created GMOs.

Now there are power shortages and power plants will need to be built.

now you are still eating shit but with the added benefit of breathing shit air too!


Is their a compromise? sure. but that compromise will be fucking up life for a lot of people, just to benefit another set of people.
Oct 11 2014 5:51PM
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Bodhisattva_
Posts: 5749 - Karma: 2,009
californiagrownCuriously, how much do you think Wild salmon sells for in, say, San Francisco? How does $18/lb sound to you?

The issue with this thread is everyone who is all about the wild salmon, lives where those salmon are caught so pricing is much, much cheaper. Hell i just moved up to Seattle and just bought a fuckton of wild salmon from Costco because i couldnt believe how cheap it was.

Folks living anywhere but the North West coast of N. America pay exorbitant prices for the wild stuff.


Yeah I moved to Bozeman from Seattle area and started working in a seafood shop and almost shit when I started looking at prices. Just sold a lb of Alaskan king salmon for $19.88.
Oct 11 2014 6:46PM
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mccdiggity
Posts: 27 - Karma: 100
californiagrownso we remove the dams and allow salmon back to their natural spawning grounds.

Now farmers cant water their fields and start using drought resistant strains of seed... monsanto created GMOs.

Now there are power shortages and power plants will need to be built.

now you are still eating shit but with the added benefit of breathing shit air too!


Is their a compromise? sure. but that compromise will be fucking up life for a lot of people, just to benefit another set of people.


There are something like 80,000 dams in the US and less then 3,000 are actually hydropower producing. Hydropower is only responsible for 7% of energy production in the US.

I definitely do not think that complete dam removal is the answer. However a majority of the dams in America are no longer used and are serving no purpose while disrupting the watershed. Dam technology is outdated and in many cases, they cause significantly more problems than they solve.

There are numerous alternatives that can address many of the changes that result from dam removal. Some people will definitely be negatively impacted but I would not say it will completely destroy their lives. In my opinion returning rivers to their natural state is the most important thing and will benefit the country in the long run.

That being said I do want to educate myself more on the other side of the argument. Damnation is definitely one sided, however they did back up all of their information very well.
Oct 11 2014 6:48PM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
mccdiggityThere are something like 80,000 dams in the US and less then 3,000 are actually hydropower producing. Hydropower is only responsible for 7% of energy production in the US.

I definitely do not think that complete dam removal is the answer. However a majority of the dams in America are no longer used and are serving no purpose while disrupting the watershed. Dam technology is outdated and in many cases, they cause significantly more problems than they solve.

There are numerous alternatives that can address many of the changes that result from dam removal. Some people will definitely be negatively impacted but I would not say it will completely destroy their lives. In my opinion returning rivers to their natural state is the most important thing and will benefit the country in the long run.

That being said I do want to educate myself more on the other side of the argument. Damnation is definitely one sided, however they did back up all of their information very well.


The other thing people forget about dams is that they are flood prevention devices. flooding would be a huge issue in many more areas if dams werent in place.

I agree, there are many, many dams that are non functional right now. unfortunatly, dams cost a lot to demo, and i would venture the say that the vast majority of antiquated dams are at the upper end of the watershed where they dont impact fish spawning...because the dams lower down(where there is more water and hence more need/use) already block all the fish.

And yes removing dams in many areas would completely destroy a lot of people's livelyhoods. irrigation using aquaducts and diversion dams is THE reason why the USA can grow all of that produce.

i am in favor of dam removal as well, but i also understand the kind of immediate harm it will bring to a lot of people.
Oct 11 2014 7:17PM
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