Is Norway’s farmed salmon as healthy as we think?
Swedes love salmon but some scientists and a new film say the farmed variety of the fish isn’t as healthy as it’s believed.
Ninety-seven percent of the salmon consumed in Sweden is farmed in Norway. Swedish angler Mikael Frödin has fished for salmon in rivers for decades and says wild salmon in Sweden is suffering from the impact of the farmed salmon industry.
Together with a film team from the American outdoor clothing company Patagonia, with whom Frödin works as a so-called brand ambassador, the group documented the conditions at a salmon pen on the Alta fjord in Norway, and was later sentenced for trespassing.
Sigmund Björgo of the Norwegian Seafood Council, a public company owned by the Norwegian state that works with the seafood industry, says the film crew never approached the salmon farming industry to get their side of the story.
He added that Norway’s wild salmon stock is doing well even with the many salmon farms in the country.
Meanwhile, Norwegian scientist Bjørn Bolann at the University of Bergen is trying to get the message out that farmed salmon is harmful to pregnant women, their babies and young children because of toxins that store in the fatty fish. Listen in to hear the whole story.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Community in Arctic Canada seeks ways to grow thriving turbot industry, CBC News
Finland: What a Saami-led salmon rewilding project in Arctic Finland can teach us about Indigenous science, Eye on the Arctic
Greenland: Greenland Atlantic salmon catch numbers well above new quota, CBC News
Norway: Cod moving further north as climate changes in Arctic Europe, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Norway and Russia agree to slash cod quotas in Barents Sea, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Seasonal foods threatened by pollution problems, Swedish study says, Radio Sweden
United States: U.S. gov clears path for genetically engineered salmon, Alaska Public Media
thank you for this story, and for the link to the interview on sverigesradio; it was in english, and was very informative.
another important subject to study is what they feed the fish; the story mentioned certain bad things that are included in the feed to “stablize” or something like that, but I’m also concerned about soy products and gmo grains, and need to look further into it.