Activists’ new platform peddles ‘cherry-picked science’

Canada’s salmon farmers have dismissed a new website set up by anti-salmon farming campaigners as ‘deceptive’ and packed with ‘outdated studies and misleading claims’.

Launched this week by two wild salmon lobbying groups, the New Brunswick based Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) and the Icelandic headquartered North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), the salmon.info website said it would expose the ‘harmful effects’ of the salmon farming industry.

The website, which also includes content from UK activist group WildFish, uses AI to scour databases for material.

'Tired myths'

But it has been quickly debunked by Tom Taylor, the new executive director of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association (ACFFA), who addressed the website’s ‘tired myths about salmon farming and cherry-picked science’ in a post yesterday.

“I cannot allow the publication of a deceptive new website 'salmon.info' to go unchecked, especially at this time when Canada’s food security and economy need to be strengthened,” he wrote.

“Salmon.info, operated by well-known anti-salmon farming activist groups…presents itself as an 'evidence-based resource hub'."

'Selectively interpreted'

He adds: “But upon closer review, a more apt name for this site is ‘salmon.misinfo’. The sources cited are carefully chosen to support their anti-salmon farming agenda, many are outdated, selectively interpreted, or link back to ASF’s own network of advocacy content or organisations with financial stakes in land-based aquaculture ventures – including Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, a major ASF donor and investor in land-based salmon farming.”

Taylor said there were “far too many inaccuracies” on the website to list in one post. Setting the record straight, he pointed out that in Atlantic Canada, every farmed salmon is raised under strict federal and provincial oversight, backed by agencies including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

“At a time when the world is facing rising food insecurity and urgent climate challenges, responsible salmon farming isn’t the problem. It’s part of the solution.

“The facts – backed by science, regulation, and decades of experience – speak for themselves.”

Read the full post here.