Vice president candidate shows lack of understanding of salmon business
On the Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's web site she leaves no doubt that she is against fish farms. But in an ironic twist she also claims to be "a champion for Alaska's fishing industry". Her platform regarding Commercial Fishing, which apparently is unanimously endorsed by the United Fishermen of Alaska, states: Fish Platform: Do What's Right For Alaska’s Fishing Communities • "Resource First" Philosophy • Professional ADF&G Management with Adequate Funding • Fishery Advisor • Balanced Board and Council Appointments • Aggressive Marketing Campaign • No Fish Farming
"I am not only a champion for Alaska’s fishing industry, but a part of it. My family is proud to be a Bristol Bay fishing family. That’s why, as Governor I will do what’s right for Alaska’s fishing communities. I know the resource must come first in our management decisions. If we manage for abundance, we should have enough fish for all our needs", Ms. Palin says on the web site.
As previously described in FishfarmingXpert, and recently in IntraFish and by Mr. Bill Vernon in Northern Aquaculture, Alaska is one of the biggest salmon farming jurisdictions in the world. Mature salmon are caught by the thousands, eggs are fertilized in hatcheries, and young salmon fry are fed the same salmon feed as farmers in British Columbia use. If the fish get sick, they are treated with the same antibiotics that are used south of the border. Many of the young Alaskan salmon are put in cages and net pens the same way as salmon farmers do.
The only difference between salmon farming in Alaska and British Columbia is that in Alaska (and for that matter also to some degree in B.C., Japan and Russia), the penned-up and fed so-called "wild" Alaskan salmon are intentionally released into the ocean, where they are competing for food and resources with truly "wild" salmon. Salmon farmers are often criticized for unintentionally letting some farmed salmon escape. The number of farmed salmon escapes in B.C. and Washington State are dwarfed by the 1.5 billion artificially raised and released fish from Alaska each year, and the approximately 500 million let loose from B.C. enhancement facilities.
Perhaps Governor Palin should modify her "No Fish Farming" statement before it comes back to bite her.
