I agree with everything you said Sandman except the last part about Atlantic Canada. Their wild Atlantics stocks are even more threatened by farmed Atlantics.
http://asf.ca/news.php?id=758
I wouldn't say they are
more threatened as they are at least the same species over there. There will always be concern over escapees from a farm and of course the over crowding issues are the same regardless of the location. My main concern of the farming of Atlantic here comes from our experience with other invasive species. Introducing the Atlantics into Pacific waters was a dumb idea in a long line of dumb ideas. If a pathogen from the hatcheries that raised these fish enters the waters of BC it could decimate the wild stocks the way the Smallpox decimated the Native populations here. If it happen to a people, is it so far to leap that it might happen to a fish? The other risks, already mentioned (escapees, pollution, antibiotic resistant bacteria, etc), add further stress to an already stressed system. If the fisheries biologists had done the studies first, rather than using the BC coast as a giant lab experiment, we may have felt a little more comfortable with the introduction of aquaculture here.
I thought it was fair and forthcoming of dave to list his credentials?
Perhaps it is time for Morty, Sandman and others to list their qualification of opinion as well??? Just to be fair.
I am not sure a "qualification of opinion" is necessary as an opinion is judged on the merits of its supporting arguments, not on the credentials of the speaker (that would be an
ad hominem attack). I value many of the opinions stated by forum members that may not have degrees but whose experiences have granted them a perspective that is still as valuable and meaningful (like Dave's, before he threw in the towel) as a scientist (who perhaps is bucking for their next grant). However, if you really wish to know I am a historian, geographer, and geologist, not a biologist, and I have a Masters degree in Environmental History from Simon Fraser. I am not a current or former employee of either the DFO nor a disgruntled former employee the salmon farming industry. My allegiance is to the environment and my agenda is to see that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.
Letting nature taking it's course will not garner enough food for the human population. Much like agriculture where intense farming has become an integral part of our life, all food source will eventually require farming. Farming methods have gone through many decades of progress.. including shortening mature cycle, mass production, weed/insects control and so forth.. Today many chemical/hormones that were once considered a common practice has been banned due to health concerns environmental concerns.
Aquaculture, still in it's early development stage will evolve like agriculture. It is here to stay and provide.
I object as strongly to the giant industrial feedlots that produce the chicken and beef for the world's fast food chains as I do the slashing and burning of the amazon rainforest to make room for cattle ranches to supply them as well. For the last 5 000 years humankind has been in a perpetual battle with nature, intent on more than just "survival". We have sought to harness, control, and exploit nature to satisfy our desire for a "good" life. In the last 100 years we have won that battle, and yet the battle rages on. We continue to act as though we must subdue nature. We need to recognize that the battle is won and that we do not need to continue to pommel our enemy into the dust. Just as the two sides at the end of a war must reach across the table of peace and find a way to live together, a change in our behavior must take place if we are to coexist with the natural world. We cannot continue to exploit the environment the way we have been doing, and we cannot continue to think and act as though we can. A revolution is needed and it is needed soon, or the environmental damage done in the name of satisfying the desires of 14 billion people (the projected stabilized world population) will be irreparable.