A parasite the size of a thumbtack is flourishing in B.C.'s fish farms - and wiping out the wild salmon, writes Taras Grescoe
ECHO BAY, B.C. -- Ye ugly, creepan, blastit wonner,/
Detested, shunn'd, by saunt an' sinner,/
How daur ye set your fit upon her,/
Sae fine a Lady!
- From the Robert Burns poem, To A Louse, On Seeing One On A Lady's Bonnet,
At Church
For anybody who relishes the unctuous feel of lox on bagel, the crunch of crispy salmon skin in a B.C. roll, or the odour of a Chinook tail on the barbecue, these can be confusing times.
Wild salmon are virtually extinct in the Atlantic Ocean, yet tens of millions of Atlantic salmon are being raised in farms in the Pacific; the U.S.-based Safeway supermarket chain has announced that it is curtailing purchases of disease-ridden farmed salmon from Chile; and returns of wild salmon on the British Columbia coast seem to be declining from year to year.
Choosing farmed salmon, some people will tell you, means consuming some of the most toxic chemicals known to humanity. Opting for wild-caught salmon, others insist, could make you complicit in driving already fragile salmon stocks to local extinction. No wonder so many people end up settling for chopped cucumber in their maki rolls at the sushi bar.
Yet there really is no need for confusion. Where you stand on the wild-or-farmed-salmon issue should come down to what you think about a thumbtack-sized crustacean that survives by eating the scales and skin off the same fish that we love to eat - an ugly, creeping, little beastie known as the sea louse.
Full Story: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.2008
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