Blog Post 3

Environmental Solutions for Salmon Production

One possible way that Salmon fishing can reduce the environmental impacts on a national scale would be the type of diet that is fed to the fish. For example, along Norway’s coast which is one of the worlds largest Salmon producers, off the Hitra Island, “cultivated salmon are fed a diet that is two-thirds plant-derived and one third fish meal and fish oil—a reversal of the previous ratio, in a bid to limit depletion of marine resources.” This information comes from phys.org in an article titled, “Taking the environmental bite out of salmon farming,” written by Celin Serrat.  On a local scale, although Salmon isn’t an export out of Milwaukee or even one of the top meat products purchased here, there still are some ways to reduce the environment impacts associated. For example, smaller grocery stores would carry smaller amounts of Salmon in their inventory because fresh caught Salmon only lasts for a day or two which leaves a lot of room for stores to be throwing away a lot of it if it’s not purchased. There could be even a day out of the week or a few where the store is known to carry Salmon which is better at showing the demand needed for the fish as well as the store cutting costs from their supplier. This would incentives a “get it while you can” push and want for customers to not only cut down on the amount of fish produced and sold but would leave room for other types of fish and meat to be purchased at the market. Having this option would also have buyers possibly try other kinds of fish to alleviate the push for Salmon and diversify the market of types of fish purchased. Although I do understand the providing a good or product everyday in a supermarket is ideal for the store because it allows for individuals to purchase it whenever they please, it should be considered the amount of savings the store would have if they decided to produce less.

Although I do understand with buying fresh fish it needs to be used within a day or two or else it isn’t good anymore, I don’t buy frozen fish because I believe that way people are purchasing more than they need and keeping it for storage. Whenever I personally decide to buy a bag of frozen Salmon it usually sits in my freezer longer than it should and I sometimes don’t end up using it because it doesn't taste the best and ends up going in the garbage. By purchasing just one of two Salmon filets for myself and cooking it the day of it leaves a smaller chance that I won’t use all of it and there won’t be waste involved. In general though, I eat a mostly vegetarian diet with eating fish maybe once a week or even once every other which I believe is the best way to positively impact the environment and produce less waste. The types of food I mainly consume have a less carbon footprint because there aren't as many resources involved with raising and growing the type of food I eat daily. 

Resources used:

https://phys.org/news/2016-09-environmental-salmon-farming.html

Meal Part 2

 

Meal Blog Post: Part 2

The focal point of my meal was the frozen salmon I purchased from Trader Joes. The environmental impacts of Salmon varies depending on whether it’s wild caught Salmon or farmed Salmon but at the same time there are still negative environmental impacts in both ways of catching it due to the high production rates at which fish but food in general is produced. One important impact when catching Salmon according to the article, “How to Eat Salmon Without Hurting the Environment” written by Elizabeth Sherman mentions, “the ocean-bound nets that farmed salmon are raised in around countries like Norway and Chile can sometimes break, thereby releasing farmed salmon into the wild population where they spread disease. The marine advocacy organization Oceana explains that salmon are tightly packed into these nets and can easily transmit bacterial infections,” (Sherman, 2019). This is significant because not only is it toxic for these harmful chemicals to be released into the waters where the fish are caught which harm other fish, but it also contaminates the water as well which creates even more problems.

The salmon I bought was from Trader Joe’s, specifically the “Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets.” This product as mentioned came from Alaska and the U.S. is a large salmon exporter but some other major countries that export this good is the U.K., Norway, Chile, Russia, Canada, and Japan. Particularly for this type of salmon, they start their lives in fresh water but after a few years enter into salt water after spawning. Another ingredient from my meal was kale also purchased from Trader Joes, although I couldn’t find exactly where this kale originated from much of it is grown in Mexico, China, and the United States. 

There were definitely fossil fuels that were used to produce the salmon because the boat that it was caught from needed fossil fuels for the engine as well as the car/truck it was driven into to the airport or other boat where it arrived to be packaged. From there it was driven on a truck or flown by plane to the actual store that I purchased it at. When I purchased my salmon I then used my car to drive it home until I cooked with it later. 

According to Eureka Alert’s website, “scientists show that 207-million tonnes of CO2 were released into the atmosphere by marine fishing vessels in 2016 alone. This is almost the same amount of CO2 emitted by 51 coal-fired power plants in the same timeframe.” This is a significant number and is increasing annually by the higher number at which companies export salmon and other fish. 

The frozen fish was taken from the boat where it was caught and driven to either a plane or a boat where it was shipped for distribution in California, from there it was either driven or flown to the Trader Joes in Milwaukee. 

I purchased my salmon frozen which was wrapped in plastic packaging that I threw out after opening. This will go to a landfill after I take my trash out and will not break down for around 400 years because it was a thicker plastic that was used. Being in a landfill it will take even longer to break down but when it will, it will release toxins from the material into the soil that will negatively impact the earth’s atmosphere.

Sources:

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=sockeyesalmon.rangemap

https://globalsalmoninitiative.org/en/about-salmon-farming/

https://matadornetwork.com/read/wild-farmed-salmon-sustainability/