When we hold millions of salmon in net pens in the ocean, the natural laws that kept disease under control are broken. Salmon farms cause disease levels to rise to beyond those wild salmon are built to survive. The industry cannot fix this as long as it uses net pens in the ocean. Nets will never contain viruses, bacteria or parasites. Whether the salmon farms introduce new pathogens or amplify local pathogens, this is dangerous to wild salmon and herring. Salmon are built to move. The sick and weak are left behind, consumed by predators. This stops bacteria, viruses and parasites from multiplying. Predators are natures highly efficient cleanup crew. When contained, salmon are forced to swim around in cages where disease spreads easily from fish to fish. Without predators, each sick fish remains infectious much longer, pumping out pathogens until they waste away and die. Scientists recognize salmon farms as disease production facilities (Bakke and Harris 1998).
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:25:39 +0000
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