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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/29/546803147/why-are-atlantic-salmon-being-farmed-in-the-northwest">http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/29/546803147/why-are-atlantic-salmon-being-farmed-in-the-northwest</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/161357412/food-for-thought"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Food For Thought</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:11.25pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:20.5pt;font-family:"Gotham SSm";color:#333333'>Why Are Atlantic Salmon Being Farmed In The Northwest?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Gotham SSm";color:#767676'>August 29, 20177:00 AM ET <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"'>Courtney Flatt <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#636363'>From</span></b><a href="http://nwpr.org/"><b><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=138 height=46 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.gif@01D320B4.E0346A90" alt="Northwest Public Radio"></span></b></a><span lang=EN style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#636363'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Earlier this month, <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/24/545619525/environmental-nightmare-after-thousands-of-atlantic-salmon-escape-fish-farm"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>a net pen broke apart</span></a> near Washington state's Cypress Island. The pen held 305,000 Atlantic salmon, a non-native fish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The company that owns the pen, <a href="http://www.cookeseafood.com/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Cooke Aquaculture</span></a>, says it is unsure exactly how many Atlantic salmon escaped, but the <a href="http://www.dnr.wa.gov/atlanticsalmon"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>state estimates</span></a> between 4,000 and 185,700. Cooke and the <a href="http://wdfw.wa.gov/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife</span></a> are trying to collect and count the fish that did not escape to get a better handle on how many broke out of the pen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The company initially cited the solar eclipse and high tides for the pen's failure, but tidal currents were not abnormally high when the pen broke apart. In fact, Cypress Island has seen higher tides <a href="http://earthfix.info/news/article/eclipse-blamed-farmed-salmon-escape/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>every month this year</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><a href="http://kuow.org/post/pollution-farmed-salmon-puget-sound-could-lead-penalties"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Penalties for the company</span></a> are still being figured out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The escape raises concerns from environmentalists worried about pollution and diseases from the farmed fish. The Lummi Nation Indian tribe <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/q4gz31sw4ozn6rl/Memorandum%20for%20Atlantic%20Salmon%20Spill.pdf?dl=0"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>declared a state of emergency</span></a> out of concern for endangered salmon spawning grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>State officials have asked fishers to catch as many Atlantic salmon as they can, with no catch or size limits.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The situation has raised a few basic questions about Atlantic salmon and fish farming in the Northwest.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Why are Atlantic salmon raised in the Pacific Northwest?</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Atlantic salmon are not native to the Pacific Northwest. For years, they have been bred to become easier to farm — they're more "highly domesticated," <a href="http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00922/wdfw00922.pdf"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife</span></a>. Most commercial fish farms raise Atlantic salmon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The WDFW says Atlantic salmon is a "favored species" to farm in cold marine waters because the species grows quickly and consistently, is resistant to disease, and is something people like to eat. Farmed Atlantic salmon are more docile than wild fish.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Atlantic salmon also have been bred to more "efficiently turn feed into flesh," says Michael Rust, the science adviser for NOAA's <a href="http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/faqs/faq_aq_environment.html"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>office of aquaculture</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>What used to cost several dollars per pound to grow, worldwide, now costs about $1.25, Rust says. That makes for higher profits.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>In the U.S., Washington and Maine are the two largest Atlantic salmon producing states, but they're small beans compared to salmon farms in Canada, Norway and Chile.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Atlantic salmon today, Rust says, probably grow twice as fast as when aquaculture first started.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Now, most Atlantic salmon is farmed — less than 1 percent comes from the wild.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>How long have Atlantic salmon been in Northwest waters?</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>In 1951, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife <a href="http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00922/wdfw00922.pdf"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>tried to establish</span></a> wild Atlantic salmon runs in the state. The department hoped to create more salmon fishing opportunities and released Atlantic salmon smolts. The department tried again to establish wild runs in 1980 and 1981. Atlantic salmon were also released into lakes to establish fisheries there.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>No wild Atlantic salmon returned from any of the releases. Attempts to establish wild runs — outside of the Atlantic Ocean — have failed across the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Research into the use of net pens in Puget Sound and elsewhere started in the 1960s and '70s. At first, much of the research was focused on helping out wild salmon runs on the East Coast. When those efforts worked, a commercial industry started popping up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The first commercial net pens in the Northwest raised Pacific salmon. But because Atlantic salmon have been bred with traits that make them suitable for aquaculture, most commercial net-pen operators now choose to farm that species.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>What are net pens?</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/aquaculture/netpen.html"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Net pens</span></a> are used in fresh and saltwater fish farming. They're basically large underwater nets used for holding salmon. Washington is the only West Coast state where Atlantic salmon are farmed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Washington has eight Atlantic salmon net pens. There are two types: commercial net pens for raising Atlantic salmon, and enhancement net pens for wild salmon that will eventually be released.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The net pen that broke is a commercial type.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>What's the market for Atlantic salmon farmed in Washington waters?</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Historically, salmon farming has been a small part of the entire aquaculture industry. A <a href="http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/aquaculture/noaa_memo_net_pen_salmon_farming_sept2001.pdf"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>2001 report by NOAA Fisheries</span></a> says farmed salmon help meet people's growing appetite for seafood — farmed and wild salmon are both, well, salmon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Salmon is also well-known as a <a href="http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Food/Fish/FarmedSalmon"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>healthy choice</span></a> on menus — fish has been documented to provide nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Atlantic salmon are available year-round, unlike wild-caught fish. And they're cheap to produce.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>But there's an interesting kink in the salmon farming market: the farm-to-table movement. It's a growing trend, especially in larger markets, to promote wild-caught fish. Advocates say it's better for the environment and better for fish health.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Rust says that while the farm-to-table movement is gaining steam, it could have the effect of driving out cheaper options — pricing out lower-income consumers. He says aquaculture should be considered as a farming option as the world's population grows.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>"It's going to be important to take a look at food production systems, including aquaculture side-by-side with agriculture, and look at where the resiliencies to climate or exploitations to water and land occur," Rust says.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Others worry about the health impacts of eating farmed salmon, which are treated with vaccines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>What are some of the biggest concerns about the Atlantic salmon escape?</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The state has said it is worried about farmed salmon outcompeting native salmon for food and spawning grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>"[Atlantic salmon] are not normally found in freshwater environments, and that's not a good situation," Ron Warren, WDFW's assistant director, <a href="http://kuow.org/post/grab-your-nets-atlantic-salmon-are-loose-near-anacortes"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>tells KUOW's The Record</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Warren says there isn't any evidence so far that Atlantic salmon have spawned or crossbred with other salmon species.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Atlantic salmon are actually more closely related to brown trout than Pacific salmon. That's why they don't breed with Pacific salmon — even when researchers have tried to force it in the lab, Rust says.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>So far, no Atlantic salmon have established themselves in Pacific Northwest waters, says Ray Hilborn, a professor with the University of Washington's <a href="https://fish.uw.edu/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>"This event is not that unique and so far no Atlantic salmon escapes have established self-sustaining populations or caused known damage to wild stocks," Hilborn wrote in an email. "This isn't to say it is not a concern, nor that we shouldn't carefully consider whether we want salmon aquaculture in this region, but to call this a disaster is a stretch."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Researchers say, typically, farmed Atlantic salmon don't survive well in the wild because they're used to being fed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Kurt Beardslee, the director of the <a href="http://wildfishconservancy.org/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest</span></a>, says he is concerned about the environmental effects of this release — and of net pens in general.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>"The Atlantic salmon bring with them pollution, virus and parasite amplification, and all that harms Pacific salmon and our waters," Beardslee says.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>According to a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03632415.2014.966818"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>NOAA Fisheries report</span></a>, escaped farmed salmon that carry diseases have a relatively low risk of spreading them to wild fish. This is because pathogens are already present in the water, and escapees likely won't be infectious enough to contaminate healthy wild populations. Escaped fish also aren't very fit, so they are often quickly eaten by predators.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>This event is an example of issues with net pens — and should be a wake-up call, Beardslee says.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>The same company, Cooke Aquaculture, is proposing a larger Atlantic salmon net pen in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest is <a href="https://www.oursound-oursalmon.org/sign-the-petition"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>circulating a petition</span></a> opposing the proposed net pen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Beardslee says that net pens are polluting every day, which to him is a major worry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>"It's basically a feedlot of salmon that are in a very contained area. They're all feeding at extremely high rates so they can raise them to adulthood quickly," Beardslee says. "They're producing lots of waste materials, and that waste is pollution."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><i><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>This story comes to us from </span></i><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'><a href="http://nwpr.org/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>Northwest Public Radio</span></a> <i>and</i> <a href="http://earthfix.info/"><span style='color:#6D8AC4;text-decoration:none'>EarthFix</span></a>, <i>an environmental journalism collaboration led by Oregon Public Broadcasting in partnership with five other public media stations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>