March 11, 2003 Matthew Davis, U.S. PIRG 617-747-4424

BOSTON – Environmental groups today staged a protest at the opening of the 2003 International Boston Seafood Show to "blow the whistle" on environmental problems created by the burgeoning salmon farming industry. The nation’s largest salmon growers are all represented at the Seafood Show.

The Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG), U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), National Environmental Law Center and Massachusetts Sierra Club called on supermarkets and restaurants to disclose to consumers where their salmon comes from and what additives it may contain. The groups also urged consumers to demand that the salmon they buy be caught or raised in an environmentally sustainable manner.

"Although farmed salmon may be cheap to buy in the supermarket, it comes with a heavy but hidden environmental price tag," warned Iris Vicencio-Garaygay, an environmental advocate with MASSPIRG. "Consumers should know the true price of salmon before throwing another salmon steak on the grill."

The idea that farmed salmon is good for the environment is a myth, the groups said. They pointed out that a typical salmon farm, which packs hundreds of thousands of fish into an array of sea cages moored just off-shore, discharges a wide range of pollutants into fragile ecosystems in places such as Downeast Maine. Over the years, these pollutants have included: antibiotics, pesticides, toxic materials used to coat the cages, thousands of tons of fish waste products, and escaping farm-bred fish themselves, which threaten the survival of wild salmon because they can interbreed and spread disease and parasites. Maine’s wild Atlantic salmon were placed on the federal Endangered Species List in November 2000.

The groups rejected the idea that salmon farming reduces pressure on wild fisheries, since salmon farmers consume over two pounds of wild fish, which they grind up to make feed pellets, for every pound of farmed salmon they harvest.

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"The salmon farming industry in Maine not only discharges a significant amount of pollutants, it is discharging them illegally," said Matthew Davis, New England Field Director for U.S. PIRG, which sued the Maine industry for violating the federal Clean Water Act. "Only one of the ‘big three’ salmon farming companies doing business in Maine – Heritage Salmon – has thus far committed to reduce its environmental impacts in a way that is enforceable under federal law."

Most of the salmon found in supermarkets is farm-raised Atlantic salmon. Brand names of salmon farmed in Maine and sold in New England include "Majestic" (produced by Atlantic Salmon of Maine), "Sterling" (Stolt Sea Farm), and "Heritage" (Heritage Salmon). Wild Pacific salmon is also sold, much of it from Alaska (which has banned salmon farming), but is harder to find in supermarkets and restaurants.

"Consumers may not realize that, because farmed salmon are fed an unnatural diet that leaves their flesh grayish-white rather than pink, the salmon companies add a manufactured dye to the feed to create a more ‘consumer-friendly’ color," explained MASSPIRG’s Vicencio-Garaygay. "The presence of artificial pigment is something that should be disclosed to consumers of farmed salmon at the point of sale."

"This country is only now beginning to address the awful environmental legacy created by unregulated hog, cattle and chicken factory farms," said Jay McCaffrey, Director of Massachusetts Sierra Club. "Government, consumers and seafood retailers have a responsibility to act now to ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes with fish farming."

Protests over the environmental impacts of salmon farming have appeared with increasing frequency in Europe and on the West Coast. This is the first such protest in Boston.

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