Press
In Iceland, residents fear for their ecosystem. Reason: salmon farming on the coast. Aquaculture threatens wild animals and farmed animals suffer.
Reykjavík – Alaska pollack and salmon is the Germans’ favorite fish. Loud aquakulturinfo.de In 2022, 234,847 tons of Alaska pollock (market share of 19.3 percent) and 224,344 tons of salmon (18.4 percent) were consumed in this country. A consumption that also requires breeding to keep up. Two large corporations are breeding millions of salmon directly off the coast of Iceland. There is increasing criticism that the fish are degenerating and also endangering wild salmon stocks.
Farmed salmon looks like “zombie salmon”
A typical picture of mass breeding: many animals live together in a very small space. In the case of salmon, it is the nets that keep them in place. In addition to the healthy fish, there are also those that are missing an eye or that look more dead than alive. At least that's how activist Veiga Grétarsdóttir describes it, who uses the term “zombie axis”.
According to a report by Mirror online Last fall, around a million salmon would have been fished out of the sea by fish farms that were either already dead or close to death.
Salmon farming endangers the ecosystem – Icelanders demonstrate
Background: The nets, which are around 35 meters in diameter, contain up to 120,000 salmon that live there for two years, according to the industry media blinker.de emphasized. This also provides a basis for bacteria, viruses and parasites such as the “salmon louse”, which feed on the animals and cause massive harm to them. In addition, many of the animals escape again and again and invade the territories of wild salmon. The fear: This could massively disrupt the ecosystem.
Billion dollar salmon business
Therefore, more and more people in Iceland are against fish farming. As the Icland Review writes, for example, there were even large demonstrations in the capital Reykjavik in October 2023. Over 3,000 people took part, including many Icelandic landowners and farmers, but also famous people such as the pop singer Björk and the Spanish singer and songwriter Rosalía.
The report also illustrates the scale: from 2014 to 2021, marine aquaculture in Iceland increased from 4,000 tons to 45,000 tons – 99 percent of which is salmon. Worldwide production is around three million tonnes. A billion-dollar business for companies.
Öko-Test warned in mid-2023 Substances suspected of being cancerous in smoked salmon. (jh)
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