Farmed salmon

[huntindog]

its all about the numbers. When things are good there are hundreds of thousands of salmon in individual drainages. Plenty enough to support a commercial fishing industry. There are not many rivers that produce enough steelhead to support any type of commercial fishery.

[Covelo]

Maybe for hatchery salmon on good years on the major river systems, but there are not that many wild salmon. Last I looked, commercial fishing was not a selective fishery.

[huntindog]

i guess you have a point there...there really isn't even a way to determine a hatchery fish from a wild fish..not all hatchery fish are adipose clipped....but this thread was about farmed salmon...it is fairly indisputable what a wreck the salmon pens are having on the ecosystems where they are allowed.

[Darian]

SFMike,.... Am in total agreement with you about the need for water but am not in agreement with your assessment of the numbers of hatchery raised fish. Not sure what numbers you're using for historical Salmon runs but the number of Salmon spawned in hatcheries on Battle Creek, the Feather, American and Mokelumne Rivers are substantial. IMHO, an ocean commercial fishery may not've been possible in the past without their contributions.

I recognize that a commercial fishery exists in Alaska and elsewhere and that is the source of wild Caught fish in our markets. However, I remain unconvinced that restarting even a limited commercial fishery (required for marketing/sale of wild caught fish) for Salmon along the California/Oregon coasts without some indicator(s) that a recovery is under way is going to amount to anything other than presiding over their further decline. Valley Salmon runs are not the only Salmon that would potentially be impacted negatively by restarting a commercial fishery. Salmon returning to the Eel/Klamath/Smith River drainage(s) could potentially be negatively impacted as well.

I have a slightly differing take on ocean going pen raised fish. It seems to me that with increasing demand and declining naturally spawned stocks, fish farming (aquaculture ) is a necessary alternative to pressuring species to the point of extinction. True, there are/have been negative side affects from these activities but if properly regulated and with the benefit of technological advances, those side affects could be minimized in areas within our control.

Having said that, the demand for farmed fish is high (here and overseas) and the particular farming sites I've seen mentioned are beyond our country's borders; beyond our ability to regulate unless through agreement and/or treaties, etc.

So, it seems to me that our only real choice is to demand that facilities solve the problems due to side affects of farming fish as soon as possible.