Research has sparked fear concerning the safety of salmon farmed in freshwater fisheries, with scientists uncovering worrying levels of potentially dangerous chemicals in some fish intended for human consumption.
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Harmful Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are banned in many countries, but they find their way into the oceans as industrial waste, and from here contaminate fish whose offal is then manufactured into “nutritional” high-protein feed for the farmed salmon industry.
As Dr Paul Johnston, a scientist with Greenpeace, revealed: “We are maximising humane exposure to these chemicals by promoting an artificial food chain.” Indeed, utilising fish by-products in this way serves to enhance the concentration of the PCBs, providing farmed fish with a dose that Dr Miriam Jacobs, of Surrey University, found to be up to ten times that present in wild salmon.
Once they enter the human body, PCBs build up in body fat and take years to dissolve. Experts warn that they are potentially damaging to human nervous, immune and reproductive systems, thought to decrease sperm counts and lead to deformed genitals and sterility because they mimic the female hormone oestrogen.
In response to the findings, the WTO has changed its recommended weekly intake of salmon, down to a tenth of that stated in previous nutrition guidelines.
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By GlobalDataThere is concern, however, that such findings will merely turn consumers who enjoy salmon away from farmed fish in favour of their wild cousins. The farming of wild stocks in recent years has meant that population levels have dropped to crisis point, as adults are harvested before they have time to lay eggs. Only last month agriculture minister Nick Brown revealed an investment boost to freshwater fisheries (to read the article click here) in a bid to protect wild stocks.
In a bid to allay fears, the Fishmeal & Oil Manufacturers Association revealed that it was aware of the problem, and salmon farmers said they are looking at ways to reprocess the fish feed and reduce the presence of PCBs.
