If you live in the US and consume fish,
chances are at least a percentage of the fish you eat are from fish farms. Roughly
half of all fish consumed in the U.S. is now from the aquaculture industry,
which is the fastest growing animal agriculture segment - in part due to misinformation about the sustainability and health of the product. Unfortunately farmed
fish are not the paragon of sustainability the industry wants us to believe.
While many farmed fish live on GMO corn
or soy, certain fish cannot do that. Fish like tuna and salmon need to eat as
much as 5 pounds of fish for each pound of body weight. The result is that
feeder fish are being fished to the brink of near extinction to feed the
world’s farmed fish.
This, of course, has a negative impact on the populations of
everyone’s favorite aquatic creatures- whales, dolphins, seals, and sea lions as
well as others - as their food supplies are quickly disappearing. As Dr.
Richard Oppenlander writes, “It is a bizarre, ecologically unhealthy circle,
where the demand to eat fish has taxed the oceans so there has been a
proliferation of controlled fish-farm production, which places further stress
on the oceans because of the need for fish-meal and oil in the production
process.”
Not surprisingly, the fish that are fed
corn or soy are far less nutritious than their wild caught friends.
Loaded with toxins and lacking in the Omega 3s fish are famed for, farmed fish
make a great Christmas present for someone you hate. Since wild caught fish get
their omega 3 fatty acids by consuming plants (the same way we should!) or from eating smaller fish
that eat plants, farmed fish, which are typically fed corn, soy, or other foodstuffs
(as well as healthy doses of antibiotics just for good measure) contain little
or no omega 3s. Instead these unnaturally raised fish accumulate large amounts
of unhealthy fats and very little of the omega 3s for which they are so valued
in many circles.
Furthermore a new report shows that the
mercury levels in many fish actually cancel out the benefits of consuming their
Omega 3s in the first place, and since food is a packaged deal, it’s impossible
to just order the Omega’s while holding the mercury or PCBs on the side! One study that looked at 364 children in California found all of them exceeded safe
benchmark levels for arsenic, mercury as well as the banned pesticide DDT among others. The paper argued that the children's exposure to these toxins was largely due to their diet, and actually suggested that the best way to avoid them was by eating lower on the food chain, and specifically pointed to a plant-based diet as ideal.
Another problem with farmed fish is
increased disease among the fish. Disease spreads among fish just like it does in
any other population. Since farmed fish - like their hoofed and beaked feed-lot counter
parts- live in their own excrement, diseases spread quickly. Not only our diseases rampant among the
fish in the tanks, but if any of them escape, they can also spread unusual
diseases among wild fish populations, only furthering the destruction of the rivers
and oceans (do yourself a favor and don’t google sea lice!). As one professor
of fisheries at the University of British Columbia has noted, fish farms “are
like floating pig farms.”
Farmed fish also have a huge impact on
our oceans environment. Vast amounts of feces, fertilizers, and antibiotics can
all cause the death of plants and sea life, as it causes massive algae
populations that leave inadequate oxygen for other forms of life. Known as
“dead zones” one need not look further than the Gulf of Mexico where there is a
dead zone – where nearly all the fish and plants have died – that is roughly
the size of half of Maryland.
It is also worth noting that currently nearly 70%
of all farmed fish come from China where they have weak standards regulating
toxins, antibiotic use, and almost no concern for the environment.
For those that claim fish farms are the answer for how to get healthy, sustainable protein, they should really reconsider that stance. The weight of the evidence is against it.
Sorry for the incredible delay in
posting part II. My original draft and research was lost and it took a while to
find the motivation to re-do it.
Further Reading:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11561/9-things-everyone-should-know-about-farmed-fish.html.
“Overfishing: Plenty of Fish in
the Sea? Not Always.” National
Geographic.
Ivan Macfadyen, “The Ocean is
Broken.” http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1848433/the-ocean-is-broken/
Pauly, D., et all. “Towards
sustainability in world fishers,” Nature
2002.
General Situation of World Fish Stocks,
United Nations Food Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Harrington, J.R., et all., “Wasted
Fishery Resources: Discarded By-Catch in the USA.” Fish and Fisheries 6.
Janicke Nordgreen, et all.,
“Thermonociception in fish: Effect of two different doses of morphine on
thermal threshold and post-test behavior in goldfish.”Elsevier
Rosamond L. Naylor, et all., “Effect of
Aquaculture on World Fish Supplies,” Nature
Vol. 405, June, 2000.
Oppenlander, Richard. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying
Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. New York,
Langdon Street Press, 2013.
As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.
