(Very) Down on the Farm

Not a good day for the farmed salmon industry.

First, the California Supreme Court unanimously overturned two lower court rulings that would have prevented individual consumers from suing supermarkets that sell farmed salmon without labeling the fish to let buyers know it's artificially colored. The ruling revives consumer lawsuits against eight grocery chains.

Second, workers in Chile's booming salmon aquaculture industry are on strike over salaries and working conditions. Striking workers in the world's largest producer of farmed salmon are demanding higher wages and better working conditions, citing the unprecedented profits of a booming industry.

While wild-caught salmon is a "Best Choice" of Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, and other seafood rating cards created by conservation organizations, farmed salmon remains on the "Avoid" list because of the range of environmental problems it poses: localized pollution, spread of disease to wild salmon, escapes that risk displacing wild fish and the sheer volume of other fish that must be caught to feed farm-raised fish.

Comments

[Serena Federman]

Just one clarification, Seafood Watch recommends Alaskan Wild-caught salmon as a Best Choice, while wild salmon from CA, OR and WA states are a Good Alternative due to other environmental impacts such as dams, destruction of prestine spawning habitat and pollution from encroaching human development.